Exclusive: Ather Energy to bring family e-scooter in 2024, e-motorcycle in 2026
Celebrating its 10th anniversary recently, Ather Energy is all set with the roadmap for the next decade with more products planned including the much-talked-about family electric scooter and the company is all set to surprise you with an electric motorcycle as well. In an exclusive conversation with HT Auto, Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder - Ather Energy, revealed more about the upcoming family electric scooter while spilling the beans on entering the electric motorcycle market.
Ather Energy is working on a family e-scooter that will arrive as early as this year. The electric scooter was first spotted testing late last year and is expected to be the next big launch from the company. It promises to be more versatile, which should appeal to a wider customer base, while Mehta hinted that the model will be larger in proportions to the 450X.
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Speaking to HT Auto, Tarun Mehta said, “We’ve got something very exciting in the family space that has been doing the rounds recently. The only thing I can tell you about it is it’s big. For anybody who ever thought that I wanted to buy an Ather but wish it was bigger, we’ve heard you and will sort that."
Watch: Exclusive: Ather Energy planning new family e-scooter, e-motorcycle after 450 Apex, says Tarun Mehta
Ather’s first decade was ruled by the 450 Series which played an important role in shaping up the company - both in terms of engineering and technology. With the manufacturer being one of the most prominent players in the EV space, the company is now looking to introduce a wider portfolio built on the foundation of the 450 platform. This will help shorten the development cycle, reducing the time from the drawing board to the assembly line.
“The first 10 years have gone and there’s just so much building - the platform and getting things right. Lots of nuts and bolts and hard work. A lot of these things now just work and we are able to build new variants super fast. This year [2023] we’ve done the 450S, now we’ve done Apex, and now we are going to something in the family. So things are super intense because we’re just realising that we’ve got a lot of solid building blocks that fit together super fast, which means you can build products super fast and launch them and we’re super grateful for the 450 Series because it got us the entire tech right. I think very few companies have been able to achieve that in the EV space - getting the tech, platform and engineering right in the early years."
Tarun Mehta also revealed plans to bring Ather’s maiden electric motorcycle to the market. “We’re thinking of the first bike in 2026," he said, hinting at a new lineup of e-motorcycles in the works.
Also Read : Ather 450S electric scooter becomes more affordable after a ₹25,000 price cut
Ather will see some serious competition in this space with players like Ola Electric, Tork Motors, Matter, and more already looking to do big numbers. There’s also Ultraviolette which sits on top of the indigeneously-developed electric motorcycle space in India. Most players are operating in the sub- ₹2 lakh segment (with FAME subsidy) except Ultraviolette, which has opted for products at a much higher price point. Ola is also expected to bring premium electric bikes having promised the biggest battery packs on its upcoming e-bikes. While Mehta did not share more details about the upcoming offering, it will be interesting to see how Ather approaches the idea of building an electric bike.
Ather recently launched the 450 Apex, describing the model as the pinnacle of performance on the 450 platform. Mehta explained that the new Apex is the best the 450 platform can get in terms of hardware and software. With over two lakh units produced so far and counting, the move liberates Ather to look at newer products and segments, as well as markets. The new product range will give the much intended versatility to the brand in the coming years.
