Phase 1 of EV charging grid set-up to be completed by yr-end: Ather Energy

 Electric vehicle startup Ather Energy on Tuesday said the first phase of its plans of setting up charging grid across over 135 locations would be completed by the year-end.

In all, the company targets to install 6,500 charging points across the country by 2022, Ather Energy said in a release.

The Hero MotoCorp-backed firm currently has 150 fast charging stations pan-India, including 37 in Bengaluru and 13 in Chennai.

These grid fast charging network can be used by all electric two-wheelers and electric four-wheelers, besides charging its Ather 450X scooter at 15 km in 10 minutes, according to the release.

Ather Grid has seen steady adoption in Bengaluru and Chennai and we believe that accessible charging infrastructure is critical before launching our products in any market we enter," said Ravneet Singh Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy.

Ather Energy, that intends to launch across nine new markets in India, has already finalised setting up of 135 public fast charging stations, the company said.

Phase one of installation of the grid to be live across over 135 locations by December 2020, it said adding that the installations of the grid points will begin before the deliveries of its flagship 125 CC Ather 450X scooter from next month.

As part of Phase one of the rapid expansion, Ather Energy will install about 5-10 fast charging points before delivery in each of the new markets they are expanding to, it said.

The company had last month announced that the deliveries of these scooters will begin in a phased manner from November with Benagluru and Chennai getting it first.

The grid is supported by the mobile app, which allows all EV owners to directly ascertain available and unavailable locations on the home screen, the company said.

The application also has filters and information related to four-wheeler friendly locations, availability of free and paid parking, location timings and more.

Ather is one of the few companies in the country to have set up and contributed towards building an ecosystem for EVs in the country and invested in public infrastructure, it said.

What the market needs right now is more visibility of the charging infrastructure. We will ensure that Ather Grid is present in prominent locations in every city. Along with high performance scooters, Ather is also building the supporting ecosystem with it.

It's a huge investment and we believe it's a necessary one to improve the adoption of EVs in India," added Phokela. The e-scooter maker also said it has signed initial pacts with various malls, restaurant, cafe chains and retail outlets and now has access to more than 250 locations across the country.

Ather will continue to partner with more progressive hosts which can offer EV owners easy accessibility, curb range anxiety, and ease the adoption of these vehicles in India, it said.

Ather Energy gets patent for light-weight charging connector for EVs

Electric two-wheeler firm Ather Energy has received patent for an ergonomic, light-weight and compact charging connector to suit small electric vehicles and power banks.
According to the company filing with the patent office, the connector will have a charging socket mounted on a hand-held unit, which will have an angular grip for ease of use. The application was filed in June 2017.

E-scooter startup Ather Energy appoints Ex-Apple exec Deepak Jain as CFO

Smart electric scooter start-up Ather Energy has appointed Deepak Jain as the chief financial officer. Jain brings over 20 years of experience across global brands like First Advantage, Apple India, P&G and Gillette. He joins Ather after a five-year stint at First Advantage as CFO for their India business.

A specialist in conceptualising, leading and executing business expansion strategies, Jain will play a key role in Ather’s aggressive expansion plans. Earlier this year, Ather said it was gearing up to expand to about 50 cities across the country in five years. It also wants to take its scooters to global markets, including Latin America, Southeast Asia and Europe in the same period.

“In his prior roles, Deepak has scaled up technology and product-led companies making him an ideal addition to Ather’s team. For a rapidly expanding company like Ather, an important focus area is laying the structure for effective processes,” said Tarun Mehta, co-founder and CEO at Ather Energy. “We are scaling up to meet the demand for the Ather 450 across the country and this requires robust systems and operations. Deepak’s (Jain) experience in leading teams and integrating manufacturing and business processes will play a key role in the next part of our story,” he said.

A chartered accountant, Jain has been a finance leader with exposure to large multi-location and transnational revenues. He began his career at consulting firm E&Y before moving on to Gillette and Procter & Gamble, where he took on key leadership roles in distribution modelling and sales finance. In 2010, he joined Apple India as the CFO and led the finance team during a period of rapid growth for five years.

“Working with Ather is a rare opportunity to work on cutting edge technology and building products that are setting the bar in the two-wheeler category,” said Jain. “I look forward to working with the team as we enter new markets and increase our footprint across India.”

Founded in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni, Tarun Mehta, and Swapnil Jain, Ather currently operates in Bengaluru and Chennai. The company which has been backed by the founders of e-commerce firm Flipkart, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, and Hero Motocorp has designed an intelligent electric scooter powered by a comprehensive public charging network. The firm said it has over 51 patent applications, 113 trademarks and 123 design registrations to its name.