Ather Energy, the Bengaluru-based EV startup, unveiled its mega factory spread across 123,000 sq ft at Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The company stated that close to 90 percent of its production is localised in India.
”We had started with manufacturing at Whitefield, Bengaluru in 2018. We reached the capacity of 750 vehicles in 2019 and by 2021, we moved to this Hosur plant. We have a capacity of over 9,000 vehicles now,” added Swapnil Jain, Co-founder, Ather Energy.
The factory has an annual capacity of producing 110,000 scooters and 120,000 battery packs. The company is looking to invest Rs 635 crore in the factory over the next five years.
Ather Hosur factory at Hosur, Tamil Nadu
Founded in October 2013 by IIT Madras graduates Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather Energy has raised over $140 million from the likes of Tiger Global and Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.
”We have over five international patents and had begun sales in November 2018. Our customers have clocked 25 million kilometres on road. We will be upgrading our battery tech every two years,” Tarun told YourStory at the Hosur factory.
The assembly line produces one vehicle every four minutes. The company will focus on lithium-ion battery manufacturing. The team added that over 4,000 employees will be trained in skills in the EV sector.
The team is looking to make the factory ‘smart’ by authorising smart algorithms to read the collected data and make meaningful interpretations. The end-to-end supply chain integrates with the company’s processes, warehousing, quality checks, production, to finally, vehicle dispatch. The e-wastes in the green factory are handled by authorised recyclers, and the water discharge rate is zero, enabling fast charging and performance.
Workers at Ather Energy’s factory at Hosur, Tamil Nadu testing scooters.
Currently, Ola Electric is also setting up a mega factory in Hosur. Tarun believes this is good for the growing and nascent EV industry.
“There is a lot of ground to be covered. Today, our focus is on awareness creation. With more people entering the space, more consumers will be aware, and in turn, help the ecosystem,” said Tarun.
Ather Energy already has over 103 charging points across 12 Indian cities. The company has experience centres in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Chennai. Ather has also installed a comprehensive public charging network called Ather Grid.
The scooters also come with a home charger — Ather Dot. Ather Energy added that it has a presence in 27 cities across 15 states. The team is looking to expand to 40 cities in 2021.
