Hero Motocorp-backed electric vehicle (EV) maker Ather Energy is planning to raise another round of funding in the range of $50-100 million. The company plans to use the money to build a new plant and set up charging infrastructure across the country. Ather is one of the start-ups in the EV ecosystem, which is likely to benefit from the Budget proposals for EVs.
Speaking to Business Standard after announcing the commencement of company’s operations in Chennai, its second market after Bengaluru, CEO Tarun Mehta said the government’s push to cut GST rates on EVs and tax exemptions announced in the Budget were a positive for the sector.
“It addresses the concern of the upfront cost of purchasing electric vehicles,” said Mehta, who expects sale of electric two-wheelers to increase from around 1,50,000-1,80,000 units at present to over a million in the next 2-2.5 years.
In a bid to capture a good share of the demand, the company is planning to set up a new plant, which will assemble around one million units every year. By early next year, the company’s capacity is expected to touch 25,000 units a year.
At present, the company sells two electric scooters – Ather 450 and Ather 340. “We may explore motorcycles going forward, but not other segments like cars or three-wheelers,” said Mehta.
Mehta said that the company is evaluating two or three locations including Tamil Nadu, Telagana and Andhra Pradesh for the new plant, which will cost around $80-100 million. Apart from vehicle assembly, the plant will also have a battery assembling facility.
Founded in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather is currently backed by Hero Motocorp, Tiger Global and Flipkart founders – Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal.
Over the next four years, the company plans to expand its operations to nearly 30 cities and set up nearly 6,500 charging stations. The charging infrastructures will be created in partnership with malls, cafes, co-working spaces, supermarkets and resorts as people need to spend atleast 15-20 minutes to charge batteries, said Mehta.
The public charging network Ather Grid is spread across 33 locations in Bengaluru and 10 locations in Chennai.
