Ather Energy unveils electric scooter S340

 Ather Energy on Tuesday unveiled its much awaited smart electric scooter — Ather S340. Culminating three years of efforts into developing the first ‘truly smart scooter’, the company believes that electric vehicles are the inevitable future.

“At Ather, we believe every component should be built specifically for the vehicle,” said Ather Energy CEO and Co-Founder Tarun Mehta. “The Ather S340 is an unapologetically electric vehicle, it has been designed and built mostly in-house with engineering precision,” he added.

Primed to achieve a range of up to 60 km in a single charge, and a top speed of 70 km per hour, the scooter can be charged up to 80 per cent in 50 minutes (in the fast charge mode).

The company has its manufacturing unit in Whitefield, Bengaluru. “The facility will have the capacity to manufacture 50 units of Ather S340 per day,” said Mehta, adding, “Having raised about Rs 81 crore till now, at this point, we are well-funded. The manufacturing unit will be set up at a cost of Rs 25 crore.”

With an online-only sales model, the company plans to set up experience centres across Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune in the first phase. It plans to set up public and corporate recharge centres across the city, apart from the home recharge facility that comes with the scooter.

Ather S340 will naturally be priced in the premium segment, but compelled that with electric vehicles, expenses are reduced by up to 60 per cent, the company said. Bookings for the scooter will begin in the next 3-4 months.