The debate of combustion engine vehicles vs electric vehicles (EVs) has only gathered heat over the last few years. While the government remains bullish about the prospect of EVs, global trends suggest otherwise. Even legacy automakers are concerned about EV sales plateauing in the global market.
However, EV manufacturing startups are still confident about EV sales gaining momentum in the coming years. Ather Energy is one of the few emerging EV startups that has managed to leave a mark in the electric mobility industry. In a recent interaction with The Economic Times, Ather Energy has claimed that 40 percent of India’s two-wheeler market could be fully electric by 2031.
EV market to be driven by electric scooters
Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Ather, feels that the majority of new scooter sales will likely be electric by that point in time. Although the overall EV share in the Indian market is far below the double digit mark, it is very clear that the electric mobility will most likely break this barrier in the two-wheeler segment, especially with the growing e-scooter market
In the recently concluded financial year, electric two-wheelers accounted for 58.49 percent market share of total EVs sold during this period in the country. Ather Energy is making a significant investment in its EL scooter platform, which is set to be launched at its manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad), Maharashtra, over the coming years.
New facility, new models
The EL platform is being developed with a focus on enhanced scalability, offering a strong business advantage by enabling Ather to produce a higher volume of scooters while maintaining cost efficiency. Mehta reiterated that the more scooters and form factors they build, the more competitive their products can be priced.
The company is also gearing up to kickstart operations at its Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad) facility in Maharashtra which is much bigger than its current facility in Hosur. The latter has an annual production capacity of 4.5 lakh units whereas the upcoming plant will have a capacity of 1 million units per annum. Also, the upcoming models based on the EL and Zenith platforms will be built in this new facility.
While the EL platform will be reserved for scooters, Ather will make its debut in the electric motorcycle space with the new models based on the Zenith platform. According to Swapinil Jain, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, a motorcycle architecture has its own benefits such as a bit more space to package the batteries. In scooters, a lot of space is taken up in order to create a space through which is not necessary in motorcycles.
