Ather Energy to start delivery of 'Ather 450X' from Nov

Mumbai: Electric vehicle startup Ather Energy on Monday said the delivery of its 125 cc flagship Ather 450X scooter will commence from November in a phased manner, beginning with Bengaluru and Chennai.

The company, which has investment from Hero MotoCorp, had earlier this year announced that the electric scooter will hit the road across 10 cities – Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Kolkata and Coimbatore – by the first quarter of 2021.

Ather in a release also said it will be setting up its fast-charging network Ather Grid across each city before the commencement of deliveries for a smoothless charging facility. As part of the plan, it is looking to set up 10-15 fast charging points across each city in phase 1

Ather 450X will begin from November in a phased manner, with Bengaluru and Chennai first and then the rest of the cities, the company said in a release.

“The excitement and the wait have been too long, now we can’t wait to get started. The pandemic did disrupt our timelines by a few months, but we have been able to get back on track with our plans. We used the time to refine our expansion plan and get the ball rolling on our go-to-market strategy,” said Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ather Energy.

Besides Bengaluru and Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Kochi will also get the deliveries of the vehicles in November, while Delhi and Mumbai in December, Ather Energy said.

However, Ather 450X will hit the road in Coimbatore and other cities by Q1 2021, it added.

Mehta said the company has also been working very actively with its supplier partners to ensure minimal disruption in the supply chain.

“The demand has been phenomenal, and we are sure with different ownership and purchase models that we will introduce, it will help consumers make the shift to electric with ease,” said Mehta.

Ather said it also plans to commence test rides of its latest offering from next month, adding that the company is also partnering with premium partners across key markets to set up the Ather experience centres.

Hero MotoCorp has been a part of Ather since 2016 when it first invested as a part of Series B. In July this year, the EV startup raised Rs 84 crore from the country’s largest two wheeler-maker as an extension of series C round.