Ather Energy targets Tier 2 cities, opens outlet in Mysore

Smart electric scooter maker Ather Energy is literally going places very speedily. The company, which entered West Bengal earlier this month, today inaugurated its new retail outlet – Ather Space – at Hunsur Road, Hinkal in association with Honnassiri Energy, Mysore’s leading retailer. Honnassiri Energy will stock and retail the Ather 450X and the Ather 450 Plus. This Mysore showroom is Ather Energy’s third retail outlet in Karnataka. 

The ex-showroom price after the FAME II subsidy revision for the Ather 450X is Rs 144,500 and Rs 125,490 for the Ather 450 Plus. The opening of Ather Space in Mysore is driven by the strong consumer demand from the city since the launch of Ather 450X and 450 Plus in January 2020. Deliveries in Mysore had commenced earlier this year.

Ather is looking to ride the demand stemming from the Karnataka government’s EV-friendly movies  including waiving of registration fee and road tax for electric two-wheelers and replacing of 50% of state government vehicles with EVs in the next 2-3 years.  

Ather Energy is one of the few OEMs that also invests in building charging infrastructures. The company has installed four fast-charging points, Ather Grid, which can be found at Hinkal, Nazarbad Mohalla, Gokulam Road, and Vijaya Nagar. All the Ather Grid locations are strategically placed in key areas of the city so that it is easily accessible to EV owners across Mysore. Ather Energy plans to add 8-10 more charging points to strengthen the charging network to provide smooth and stress-free rides for EV owners in the city. Ather Energy also helps customers in setting up home charging solutions in their apartments and buildings.

Earlier this year, Ather expanded its presence across multiple cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Trichy, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur and Kozhikode.

Commenting on the newest Ather outlet, Ravneet Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy, said: “Karnataka is our home ground and the demand has been phenomenal from across cities in the state. We were so overwhelmed by the response that we had to begin deliveries, a few months before opening this experience center, all thanks to our partner Honnassiri Energy. Their support and expertise helped us in organising the test rides and setting up the experience centre in Mysore. Test ride requests and pre-orders have been pouring in from Mysore since the launch of the Ather 450X. By the end of the year, we expect to be in three to four more cities in Karnataka after Mysore.

L Sunil Gowda, Director, Honnassiri Energy, added: “Mysuru is the ideal Tier-2 city to venture into and has demonstrated great potential for smart electric scooters.”

Also read: Ather adds 40 charging units each month, targets 500-strong network by March