CHENNAI: Electric Vehicle Startup Ather Energy will set up 135 public fast-charging stations across the country by the end of this year, announced the firm on Tuesday.
It already has set up 37 fast-charging stations in Bengaluru and 13 in Chennai. The company has targets to install 6,500 charging points across the country by 2022.
“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, the chief business officer of Ather.
Ather Grid fast-charging network can be used by electric two-wheelers and electric four-wheelers and can charge the Ather 450X at 15 km in 10 minutes. Ather Energy, which intends to launch across 9 new markets in India Ather Energy and has already finalized setting up of 135 public fast-charging stations.
The company said the installations of the grid points will begin before the deliveries of its flagship 125 CC Ather 450X scooter from next month. The company had last month announced that the deliveries of these scooters will begin in a phased manner from November with Bengaluru and Chennai getting it first.
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.
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.
“What the market needs right now is more visibility of the charging infrastructure. We will ensure that the 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.