Ather Energy, Bengaluru-based automotive start-up backed by Flipkart founders and Tiger Global, unveiled its first smart electric scooter S340 on February 23. The price of the scooter is yet to be decided and it will be available only through Ather’s website by the end of this year.
The S340 has a touch screen dashboard that integrates cloud based data to help personalise the consumer ride experience. Features like user profile based sign in, on board navigation, pre-configured drive modes allow a personalised experience. Its integration with the S340 Mobile App keeps the rider connected with the vehicle, to configure ride and profile preferences and sync navigation routes remotely.
“The future will be connected and inevitably electric, and the Ather S340 has been built as a manifestation of this philosophy. It is an unapologetically electric vehicle; it has been designed and built mostly in-house with engineering precision,” said Tarun Mehta, CEO and Co-Founder, Ather, while launching the product at a start-up conference called ‘Surge’ in Bengaluru.
According to the company, S340 is packed with a powerful Lithuim Ion battery pack, with a speed of 72 kmph and a range upto 60kms. The vehicle can achieve an 80% charge in 50 minutes in fast charging mode and can be charged from any 5A normal socket.
Ather will build an online-only purchase model with manufacturing plant in Bengaluru. Pre-ordering will be open in the cities of Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune in the next quarter. The company also aims at setting up an public charging infrastructure in every city it will operate in, partnering with government and private enterprises.
Ather Energy is the brainchild of IIT graduates Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, and is among the few hardware start-ups in India. Founded in 2013, it has received the first seed fund of $1 million from Flipkart founders, Sachin and Binny Bansal in December 2014. It later received a funding of $12 million from Tiger Global in May 2015.
Source: The Financial Express
