BENGALURU: EV scooter brand Ather Energy has commissioned its second manufacturing facility in Hosur to cater to the growing demand of its electric scooters — the 450X and 450 Plus.
The company plans to manufacture 400,000 units per annum, a significant jump from its current capacity of 120,000 units. Ather Energy had set up its first manufacturing facility at Hosur earlier this year.
Tarun Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, Ather Energy said, “The EV demand has been shooting up across the country, and customers are coming in expecting electric scooters to wow them. This customer expectation is why our 450 series of electric scooters — the 450X and 450 Plus is seeing massive demand.”
Since 2016, Hero MotoCorp has been investing in Ather Energy, and at present the two-wheeler company owns close to 35% stake in the EV brand.
Ather’s expansion comes at a time when Ola Electric is struggling big time to commence deliveries of its maiden electric scooter. Earlier, Ola had announced that customers would get their deliveries by the end of November.
However, the company has now postponed the deliveries by 3 to 5 weeks. Till now, no customer has taken delivery of Ola’s EVs- the S1 and the S1 Pro, which was unveiled on August 15. Ather’s experience centres are also scaling up rapidly, and its retail footprint is set to grow by six times in the coming quarters. Its current facility is operating at full capacity.
“We are commissioning the second plant to be ready for 2022. With this capacity expansion, Ather is well on its way to becoming the country’s largest EV producer by next year,” he added.
Ather Energy has been registering 20% month-on-month sales growth since November 2020. Ather has recorded a 3X increase in walk-ins, web inquiries and test rides from April-October 2021 and a 4X growth in vehicle booking in the period.
In October, Ather Energy registered its best-ever monthly sales numbers, registering 12-fold growth over last year and achieving revenue run rate of $100 million.
The company has committed to invest Rs 650 crore in the next five years to enhance operational efficiency and production capacity to meet the exponential surge in demand.
Apart from EV production, the facility will also focus on manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries.