Ather Energy has received investment from Sachin Bansal and Hero MotoCorp again. As part of the Series D round of funding, the company has raised $65 million (INR 260 crore), with $23 million coming from Sachin Bansal (the co-founder of Flipkart) and the remaining ($12 million) from Hero MotoCorp.
Ather Energy says it was one of the first picks in Sachin Bansal’s start-up investments. The former Flipkart Executive Chairman and CEO had invested $0.5 million in the electric two-wheeler company as an angel investor in 2014.
Ather Energy is set to enter 9 new cities by Q1 2021 (January-March 2021) – Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Kozhikode. Ather 450 Plus and Ather 450X deliveries in most cities will begin this month. Sales in Mumbai and Delhi will start next month, followed by Coimbatore and Kozhikode in Q1 2021. Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto is working on launching the Chetak electric scooter in 28 new cities.
In other recent updates, Ather Energy slashed the Ather 450 Plus price (ex-showroom Bengaluru, incl. FAME II subsidy) from INR 1,49,000 to INR 1,39,990 last month. At the same time, the company confirmed that it plans to give the Ather 450 Plus the same priority in deliveries as the Ather 450X and thus begin its deliveries at the same time. The Ather 450X price (ex-showroom Bengaluru, incl. FAME II subsidy) stays at INR 1,59,000.
Ather Energy announced a buyback program and option packs for the Ather electric scooters also last month. Moreover, the company said that it plans to increase the number of Ather Grid charging points to 150 by the end of this calendar year.
Ather 450 Plus vs. Ather 450X
Aspect | Ather 450 Plus Specification | Ather 450X Specification |
Battery | 2.4 kWh Lithium-ion | 2.61 kWh Lithium-ion |
Motor Peak Power | 5.4 kW | 6 kW |
Motor Peak Torque | 22 Nm | 26 Nm |
Acceleration | 3.9 seconds | 3.3 seconds |
True Range (Realistic Range) | 70 km | 85 km |
Warp Mode | No | Yes |
Bluetooth | No | Yes |
Normal Charging Speed | TBD | 3 hours 35 minutes (0-80%)/5 hours 45 minutes (0-100%) |
Fast Charging Speed | 10 km/10 min | 15 km/10 min |
Base Ex-showroom Price | INR 1,68,990 (Bengaluru) | INR 1,88,000 (Bengaluru) |
FAME II Subsidy | INR 29,000 (pan-India) | INR 29,000 (pan-India) |
Effective Ex-showroom Price | INR 1,39,990 (Bengaluru) | INR 1,59,000 (Bengaluru) |
Featured Image Source: twitter.com