Smart electric scooter OEM Ather Energy has released the second edition of its yearly ‘Ather in 2022’ report, the year-end recap capturing trends around electric two-wheeler adoption across the country.

The report highlights that CY2022, which saw a total of 59,123 Ather e-scooters being sold, that Ather electric scooters are becoming mainstream, especially in smaller cities and towns. Also, Ather scooters clocked more than 389 million kilometres, a 458% increase over 2021. Bengaluru and Chennai continue to lead the total distance chart, covering over 82 million and 33 million kilometres, respectively.

As Maharashtra fast-tracks its EV adoption, Pune has jumped up to top three cities, clocking over 25 million km in 2022. New Delhi and Hyderabad are also rapidly catching up as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities continue to show strong EV adoption rates and are riding longer distances. On average, smaller cities saw higher daily distances per scooter, with Secunderabad registering an average of 41km per day, followed by Thanjavur, Tiruppur, Pathanamthitta, and Attapur.

Southern Railways' Chennai Division has set up an Ather Grid EV charging facility at the Mandaveli and Saidapet railway stations. 

Nearly 900 Ather Grids installed across India

In 2022, Ather increased its focus on creating an ecosystem that supports the growth of EVs in the country. The company installed 634 Ather Grids, fast-charging points, bringing the total to 885, becoming the largest fast charging network for two-wheelers. During the year, Ather Grid powered 1,89,26,771km for riders.

Yet another statistic is that Ather scooters saved Rs 828,399,018 cumulatively after riding 389 million kilometres and subsequently saved almost 5,631,000kg of CO2 emissions, a significant increase from the 1,980,000kg of CO2 saved in 2021. 

Ather riding patterns revealed

The usage in WARP mode saw a significant jump, with consumers covering 18,723,002km. The cities with the highest WARP mode usage were Bangalore, Kozhikode, Chennai, and Kochi. This indicates that customers were able to ride in the fastest mode for a longer period of time.

A surprising insight was the total distance covered by Ather users in Reverse Assist – 81,197km – using it to manoeuvre around parking spaces with ease.

Riders also registered the highest single-day, monthly, and yearly usage in 2022, covering a distance of 500km, 8,059km, and 48,059km, respectively. The highest distance covered by all Ather scooters in a single day and month stands at 2,010,902km on December 21 and 56,568,252km throughout December.

Commenting on the annual report’s findings, Ravneet Singh Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy, said, "The two-wheeler EV industry is well on its way to becoming mainstream in India. Since inception, our product philosophy has been to offer specifications that we can deliver consistently, irrespective of temperature, geography, or any other aspect affecting performance."

He added, "The ‘Ather in 2022’ report shows how customers across the country are upgrading to our modern electric scooters and have no hesitation in riding their Ather scooters as much as any other petrol scooter. The numbers we see today are encouraging, but with the launch of AtherStack 5.0, our growing retail presence as well as CI points we anticipate demand for our scooters to grow in 2023.