When Ather, one of India’s leading EV two-wheeler companies, brought its latest launch, the Konarc, to the national capital, what impressed everyone was not its specs or battery power or range or price. It was more its nifty features, aided by a liberal dose of tech.
For example, the scooter enables your smartphone to virtually be your key, with its automatic locking and scooter location. Another feature, AutoPop provides convenient, hands-free access to the under-seat storage, while AirWalk uses mild assistive motor torque to make manually moving the scooter easier in tight parking spaces.
All these technologies, more Bond than basic, developed completely in-house. In fact, the Bengaluru-based company has been making anything from the body to battery and from its charging network (called the Ather Grid) to its tech features, all in-house.
It’s the kind of confidence that has had the likes of Zerodha founder Nikhil Kamat or Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, or even Pawan Munjal’s Hero MotoCorp to put their bets on this startup incubated originally at IIT Madras. In fact, Hero MotoCorp has increased its stake to as much as 32%, giving the stamp of approval of the the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer on what could well be its future.
While another conventional biggie, TVS, has the dibs on the title of India’s biggest selling electric two-wheeler crown, thanks to hit models like the iQube, Ather is in a race for the No. 2 spot alongside Bajaj.
In fact, Ather officials claim the company’s market share has come down because of its lack of capacity at its Hosur plant. They claim that sales and expectations would be matched once the company’s Sambaji Nagar (Aurangabad) plant starts production by January.
That is also the reason why many of the variants of the latest launch, Konarc, have a delayed timeline, despite the attractive starting price of less than ₹80,000 in Delhi, thanks to its recent EV policy (the price is for the base model and after subsidy).
Ather has had a stellar performance in the market so far: while debut model 450 impressed with its credible performance and smart features, the family-friendly Rizta helped it score numbers right out of the park. An IPO last summer was not only over-subscribed, but has made it a steady market performer, rewarding those who bet on it rather handsomely.
With competitors nipping at its heels (thankfully Ola isn’t one they need to worry about any more), Ather’s biggest rival will be India’s conventional two-wheeler maker, who have been noting the erosion of their market and have deep pockets to fight it out in this sunrise sector.
