The new plant, which employs 1,600 personnel, is twice the size of the first plant and has two vehicle and three battery lines. Increased automation levels mean assembly times are down by 20 percent.
23 Nov 2022 | 12022 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Bengaluru-based electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy today inaugurated its second manufacturing plant at Hosur in Tamil Nadu, thereby increasing its capacity to 420,000 units per annum. The company had first announced its plan for a second plant on November 29, 2021. The company currently has a production capacity of 120,000 units, which means its manufacturing capability stands augmented by 250 percent.
As per a tweet by co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta, the company is currently producing 600 electric scooters a day, which is set to grow to 1,500 units soon. The new plant, which employs 1,600 workforce, is twice the size of the first plant and has two vehicle and five battery lines. Increased automation levels mean assembly times are down by 20 percent.
Speaking on the launch of the new plant, Swapnil Jain, co-founder and CTO, Ather Energy said, “Rapid scale up is susceptible to quality issues and delivering safe and reliable products to our customers is our biggest priority while creating a vision for the plant. With deep investments and innovation done on processes and machines, this plant will help us to further strengthen our leadership in delivering quality vehicles”
The state-of-the-art, modern facility will help boost local manufacturing in the country. With a strong local ecosystem that has been developed, most of the supplier base for Ather Energy is in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Karnataka, making Hosur an ideal location for the factory.
Well placed to cater to growing demand
Ather Energy registered its highest-ever monthly sales by delivering 8,213 scooters in October 2022. The augmented manufacturing capacity means Ather Energy will be well placed to cater to growing demand for its e-scooters, the 450X and 450 Plus. The OEM has reported strong consumer demand in markets like Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Ather is also benefitting from its network expansion programme. The EV OEM has outlined plans to expand from 68 outlets in over 50 cities at present to 150 Experience Centres in 100 cities by March 2023. The company, which inaugurated two new retail outlets in Delhi-NCR today to capitalise on the growing demand in the region, has over the past few months opened sales operations in Pondicherry, Jodhpur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Vellore, Ludhiana and Madurai.
In October, Ather installed its 580th fast-charging point in India – the Ather Grid – and expanded its EV charging network across 56 cities in India. The company plans to install 820 more grids, taking the count to 1,400 by the end of FY2023. At present, the company has India's largest fast-charging network for two-wheelers with Ather Grids strategically installed across markets, 60% of them in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
All images: Ather Energy