Ather 340 discontinued officially but Ather 450 is a well appreciated electric scooter

“Ather Energy”:

Ather Energy was founded by two IITans, Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain those who studies together in Madras Institute Of Technology and did several projects together during study.  The idea of this amazing quality product started during collage only and they did primarily works there only but when it needed to expand the project team then they moved from there. Even though in 2012 it was not completely a new thing but whatever available in market they though they could be better. Since collage days only Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain along with some similar mind started putting the real effort day and night in battery testing and power electronics of electric scooter. IITM professors and guide also appreciated the work and helped them to get the initial funding. 

Journey after the IIT Madras:

After completion of study they started the company named “Ather Energy”. First they focused to develop a new battery technology which can really compete with the ICE or existing petrol scooters but very soon they realize that to incorporate that unique technology complete system or other all hardware and electronics need to be reworked. To build a new and better product from zero a very good team is required so Ather can focus on the development of Battery, Battery management system, Motor, Vehicle chassis, Body and unique dashboard. Withing 2 years company invested to bring the best young minds of Industry together. It was one of the challenge because Ather decided to build the complete vehicle from scratch.

Vehicle Concept Unveiling:

After putting effort company reached to the point to showcase their product concept to the public and Ather Energy unveiled 1st concept “S340” in 2016 with below mentioned specification-
Acceleration: 0 to 40 kmph in 7.3 seconds
Top Speed: 72kmph
Battery Range: 60km
Gradeability: 11°
Torque: 14 Nm
But Ather Energy same time realized that even though this specification look good but in real like situation product will not be able to compete with the other scooters available in market. Then company reworked again to increase the gradeability of the vehicle and result of that Ather Energy came with two new better products in the market.

Ather 340 and Ather 450

Ather electric scooters are well engineered vehicle. Well, as of now only Ather 450 is in market because when pre-booking opened then more than 80% demand was for Ather 450 only. So, by considering the choice of the customer company focused on the manufacturing of only Ather 450. Probably by next year company will start the production of Ather 340. Here are the specification [Comparison between Ather 340_(discontinued) and Ather 450]:

Charging Infrastructure and facility

Ather 450 charging setup at home

Ather Energy has its own charging infrastructure in the Bangalore and Chennai. Company is very much committed to expand its charging station network. Charging stations are preferably being set up at coffee shop, restaurant, mall  or gym where any one can easily spend some time. This concept of putting EVs into human common routine work will makes EVs adaptation even easy. The main aim of the company is to setup charging station at every 4 km distance so that you will never be more than 4 km away from charging station in city.
Home charging facility is also setup by the Ather. Ather ensures that even before the delivery of vehicle the charging setup should be installed at your home and that all done free of cost. For the first batch of pre-booking company has provided unlimited charging facility from the Ather Grid high speed charging station. And for other buyers Ather Grid charging facility is absolutely free until 31st December 2019.

Key features:

There are so many silent but very useful feature in the Ather 450. While designing the vehicle Ather design department (Almost 250 people are working in R&D Department) has very will considered even minute points which directly or indirectly can make rider experience more joyful and ownership of Ather 450 be completely different. Here are the some key features which you will notice once you get into it-

Cool and Attractive Dash Board:

Image Credit: Ather Energy

You get the 07 inches touch screen at your scooter dashboard. Its a first in segment offering. All the function can be checked and operated though this capacitive screen. Even you get the document storage space in dashboard where you can simply upload your RC, Driving licence and other
papers to show whenever it requires. Those all the document is accessible and displays on 07 inches screen. Its legal and now you get rid of carrying original/xerox copy of your all the vehicle related document. Toggle between different driving mode and many other functions are available.

Auto switch-off indicator : 

Guide Me Home light:

This feature was firstly introduced by Mahindra Centuro bike in 2013. It was unique feature and no one has provided this in India earlier. But for any scooter in my knowledge it still new and must be appreciated ATHER Energy to incorporate this in electric scooter. Basically when we turn off the scooter while head lamp is switched on then in that situation headlamps keeps on till next few seconds so that in after parking the scooter in even in dark person can easily have sufficient guide light for few seconds.

Reverse Mode/Park Assist:

Ather 450 comes with very friendly park assist function. So, its very easy to park your vehicle at controlled speed and even you not required any body as assistant to pull your scooter backward if you are on slope. Swipe the screen and you are in reverse mode where speed is limited to 2 kmph  reverse and swipe forward to get the forward controlled speed of 5 kmph.

ATHER Grid:

Ather Grid fast charging stations are setup in cafe, mall parking, coffee shop. Charging through the Ather grid give a unique experience to the vehicle owner. You just need to plug in the charging cable from grid to your vehicle and that’s all. Ather Grid will automatically recognize your vehicle and all the charging and its transactions will be done through the application automatically.

On-board Navigation:

On-board navigation system on 07 inches capacitive touch screen dashboard. Even you can send the destination location or route to your Ather 450 through the Ather mobile application. By doing so your vehicle gets ready in advance with your travel route. This function is operated thorough the on-board 3G connectivity. For this customer need to pay a nominal subscription fee.

On-board Charger:

Ether vehicles are having on-board charger so you don’t need to carry a big bulky charging box
all the time. This facility is not available in other scooters available in market now. You must have seen many of the other electric scooter owner always carry a box type charger and bring that out while plug-in their vehicle to the charging board. So, here you get rid of that.

OTA facility:

Power electronic, battery management system, Charger, Motor, dashboard can be upgraded remotely
by the Ather. So, your scooter will not be old even time passes. Company will keep pushing various updates through the OTA remotely. This will ensure that vehicle owner will get the driving experience of latest technology always.

Cost & Buying Experience:

My Words:

Ather energy first built the product and now building the family of a group of people who give space to the mother nature and aware about the current need. In all the aspects the Ather 450 is well engineered product without compromising the quality delivering a new experience to the people. Even small point are taken care during design phase which easily can be experience once you have the ownership of Ahter 450.  Company is consistently pushing their boundaries and investor are looking future into that. Hero Motor and other many more entrepreneurs like Sachin Bansal and Benny Bansal have invested huge amount in Ather Energy . Manufacturing location is now in WhitesField Bangalore and company will also expand its production capacity in coming future. Company will beat its competitors on the basis of technology upgrade. If required Ather Energy has also the support for Hero Motors in the field of logistics and manufacturing. So, these all the factors will definitely will make Ather Energy one of the most favorable brand and a strong competitor in the EV 2 wheeler segment of India.