Ather Energy’s smart scooter to hit the road next year

Ather Energy’s electric two-wheeler, the S340, will be available by the middle of next year, and will come equipped with advanced electronics not usually found even in most passenger cars.

In an interview with BusinessLine , Ather Energy’s co-founder and CEO, Tarun Mehta, said the electric-vehicle model, the S340, has around hundred sensors and can be customised and also create a rider profile.

“The vehicle is aware of what it is and what state it is in. One can do a lot more with the S340 compared to the fossil fuel-run vehicle. The vehicle is not just a hunk of metal that depreciates. There is tracking built on the vehicle, making it theft-proof. The vehicle tells its rider much in advance about the condition of the vehicle and how much it can run.” Mehta, an engineering design graduate from IIT-Madras, said there is so much of data packed into the electric vehicle that makes it smart and intelligent. The vehicle is expected to cost about ₹1 lakh and will be first launched in Bengaluru, followed by Chennai and Pune. The company will start manufacturing the vehicles by the middle of next year.

The company has so far raised $43 million, out of which $13 million came from the founders of Flipkart, Sachin and Binny Bansal, while the rest came from Hero Motocorp. “We have no plans to raise further rounds of funding in the immediate future,” he said. The funding has helped the start-up to organise itself better by roping in industry experts to man key positions in the company.

“With increasing complexities, it was important to bring in processes and predictability. It was a very important task to build the right leadership team and we have been able to source some very good talent.”

Ather Energy, which was set up in 2013 by Mehta and Swapnil Jain, is also setting up the test facilities, R&D Labs, workshops and prototyping. The plant’s capacity is about 30,000 units, with the actual investment in the factory and the machinery of about $2 million.

The company will also put out an elaborate plan to retail the vehicles. Initially, those interested in the product will be provided with a lot of data, information and content. Those keen on buying the vehicle can then pre-order it after which the company will invite them to their offline experience centre for a test ride. After this, those who place the order, will have the vehicle delivered at their doorsteps.

“It is just that we want customers to pre-order the vehicle first, which will help in planning our supply better. We cannot be working in an old model, where we just produce 10,000 vehicles and then keep them in inventory and then figure out who is going to purchase the vehicle. The scale at which we are operating, until we ramp up to say a few lakh units, we might be supply constraint and not demand constraint,” he said.

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