Buoyed by strong consumer demand, Ather Energy, India’s first intelligent electric scooter manufacturer, opened its second Experience Centre (EC) - Ather Space, in JP Nagar, Bengaluru, its 9th centre pan-India, with a couple more in the pipeline in the next 12 months. Plans are on to open second ECs in Chennai and Delhi next.

Bengaluru is the first market where Ather is introducing its second EC and many more in the coming months, partnering with Karnataka’s leading auto retailer, BIA Ventures.

“We had planned to open the second EC in Bengaluru in March but the second Covid wave caused the delay. Since we launched the 450X in November, sales in Bengaluru have shot up almost by 3X on a month-on-month basis. With this centre, customers from South Bengaluru can now purchase and test-ride the Ather 450X and the Ather 450 Plus from a convenient location in JP Nagar,” Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder, Ather Energy, told BusinessLine . Ather Energy has one EC each in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Kochi. Of these, only two are Ather Energy owned and operated, the rest are franchisee centres.

Ather Energy has been building charging infrastructure in all the markets before launch and already has 33 fast charging locations - Ather Grid- across the city in places like Whitefield, Indiranagar, Jayanagar, JP Nagar etc. Ather Energy intends to reach 50 locations by the end of this year to provide smooth and stress-free rides for EV owners in the city. Ather Energy also helps consumers in setting up their home chargers and has installed home chargers across 993 apartment complexes in the city over the last 3 years. Overall there are a total of 142 charging points set up across 22 cities by Ather Energy, making easy and fast charging a reality for EV owners in India.

In the past few weeks, FAME 2 revisions have further reduced the prices of all electric two- wheelers, with a 50 per cent increase in the subsidy. Also, the Karnataka government has waived off the registration fee and road tax for electric two-wheelers. “The subsidy announcement coincided with unlocking in Bengaluru and ever since, we have been clocking highest ever sales every day. Sales of electric two-wheelers have grown despite the pandemic and with this additional subsidy we expect electric two wheeler sales to disrupt the market and clock 6 million plus units/year by 2025 from the current 1,20,000 units/year,” said Mehta.

The new ex-showroom price of the Ather 450X is ₹1,44,500 and ₹1,25,490 for the Ather 450 Plus in Bengaluru. “Considering the total cost of ownership of a comparable 125cc scooter, Ather 450X and Ather 450 Plus owners can now breakeven on their investment in 18-24 months and will begin to save nearly ₹2 per km in the years after. By October/November we will be delivering in 25-27 cities pan India and by the end of FY 2022 we will be delivering in 40 cities,” said Mehta.

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