BENGALURU: With the rising demand for electric scooters, Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy is exploring location options for its third facility in India, and it is likely to announce the same by the end of this fiscal.
The EV brand will also get into the electric motorcycle segment. Though the company didn’t give any timeline for the same, Ather Energy co-founder and chief technology officer Swapnil Jain said, “Our focus is heavily on two-wheelers and it is difficult to give a timeline for the motorbike. It is in the concept and discussion stage.”
Apart from expanding in its current location - Hosur, Ather Energy, the maker of 450X and 450 Plus e-scooters, will also look for other options for its third facility. “We have not narrowed down on any particular location,” Jain said.
However, it is said that talks are on with state governments (Karnataka and Telangana) to set up its third plant. Currently, it has two facilities that produce vehicles and batteries in Tamil Nadu. Ather Energy, which formally inaugurated its second plant on Wednesday in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, is also ready to tie-up with other companies for cell manufacturing in India. Except cells, other components are manufactured in the country, as EV cells are very capital intensive. Many EV brands import battery cells from either China or South Korea.
The EV brand is also aiming to close the fiscal year with a revenue run rate of Rs 2,400 crore. The new facility will help the brand to expand its production capacity to 4.20 lakh units per year from its current capacity of 1.20 lakh units per annum. The company is also targeting 30% market share by the end of this fiscal. From just 5% last year, the share of e-scooters in the electric two-wheeler market has increased to 17%.
Last month, the electric scooter maker raised $50 million in a fresh funding round. Talking about investments, Ather Energy said of the total Rs 650 crore investment commitment in the next five years, it has already spent about Rs 320 crore so far.
In another 2-2.5 years, one in two scooters sold in the country will be electric, the start-up said, which has aggressive expansion plans. It aims to expand to 150 Experience Centers in 100 cities and install 1,400 Ather Grids by the end of this fiscal.