Ather Energy invests over ₹500 crore in EL platform and Konarc electric scooter

Ather Energy has announced that it has invested more than ₹400-500 crore to develop the latest electric scooter platform EL, as well as the brand's new electric scooter Konarc, which was launched in India last week at a starting price of ₹99,999 (ex-showroom), in three variants: S100, S125, and S160. Launched with a host of new features, the Ather Konarc comes as a practical city commuter electric scooter, with its deliveries slated to commence from September 2026. Ather has also announced S and Z variants of the Konarc, which are in the pipeline.

During the launch of the Ather Konarc, which is the first product of the company based on its latest EL architecture, the EV manufacturer has said that it has invested more than ₹400-500 crore in the development of the new vehicle platform as well as the new scooter. The Ather EL platform added the latest features like onboard charging, AeBS and 10,000 km service intervals to the Konarc. "This would be the largest investment to date on a new product. I would say this will be an easy ₹400-500 crore investment between the platform and the product or likely more," Ather Energy co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta told PTI.

Ather has stated that the latest EL platform has been designed around lower costs, simpler servicing, easier charging and everyday usability rather than merely chasing performance. Platform investments precede the product investments, and the product investments still require a lot, he said. "We had originally started thinking about this platform all the way back in 2019, but we decided to give it time; we decided to wait. We picked it up again around 2024, so it's taken roughly two years," Mehta added.

He also said that this investment is just on the product development side, as go-to-market and marketing investments are in addition. "Just the product development, the R&D cost, the testing cost, just that alone will easily run into ₹400-500 crore," he added.

The Konarc has been launched as the most affordable Ather electric scooter. It is positioned below the existing range of the brand, which comprises models like Ather Rizta and 450 series models. Mehta expects the Konarc to do well, particularly in North and Central India. "There has been a lot of feedback from the northern markets that we had captured while designing and developing this product, particularly. So, I obviously have very high hopes there," he stated.

In the short term, the company has supply constraints, he said, adding that supplies start ramping up from the December quarter of FY27 onwards. To address the rising demand and supply constraints, the company is setting up a ₹2,000 crore electric scooter manufacturing plant in Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. This new plant will have a capacity to produce up to 10 lakh units of EVs and battery packs per annum.

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