Ather Energy, India’s first intelligent electric vehicle manufacturer, began operations from its mega-factory in Hosur, Tamil Nadu from 2nd January 2021. Since then, Ather Energy has begun deliveries in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad and more deliveries planned in a phased manner across 21 other cities by Q1.
The facility is a perfect example of the Make in India vision as 90% of the manufacturing of Ather Energy products is localised, including the battery pack which is made by Ather Energy themselves. The Ather 450X and the Ather 450 Plus are completely Made in India – designed in Bengaluru. With a strong local ecosystem that has been developed, most of the supplier base for Ather Energy is in Tamil Nadu, making Hosur an ideal location for the factory.
“It’s been a great journey for us so far and the opening of this facility is truly a milestone for Ather. The consumer demand has increased by multiple folds and with us expanding to new markets, this state-of-the-art facility will cater to demand across the country. We are proud of the fact that we designed and built a product from scratch which is in line with the government’s Make in India vision. We are thankful to the Tamil Nadu government and their EV policies which have allowed us to have most of our supplier base in the State making us self-reliant.”
Tarun Mehta, CEO & Co-founder, Ather Energy
With a capacity to produce 110,000 scooters annually, the facility will serve as Ather Energy’s national manufacturing hub catering to demand from across the country. Ather Energy has confirmed deliveries and presence across 27 cities in 15 states. (Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Calicut, Ahmedabad, Mysore, Hubli, Jaipur, Indore, Panaji, Bhubaneshwar, Nasik, Surat, Chandigarh, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guwahati, Nagpur, Noida, Lucknow, and Siliguri). Ather Energy is likely to expand to 40 cities by the end of 2021.
The factory is supported by the government of Tamil Nadu under its EV Policy. Apart from the EV manufacturing, the facility will also focus on lithium-ion battery manufacturing which is a key area of focus for Ather Energy going ahead. The investment is an opportunity for value creation in the sector and will create job opportunities in the region. As a part of this initiative, more than 4,000 employees will be trained in requisite skills in the EV sector over the next 5 years.
The manufacturing facility is built on Industry 4.0 principles and has one of the most advanced solutions that integrates technology, human assets, existing systems, and processes across the entire manufacturing network. The team is also working towards making the factory ‘Smart’ by authorizing smart algorithms to read the data collected and make meaningful interpretations. The end-to-end supply chain process is very information centric which tightly integrates Ather Energy’s processes, logistics, warehousing, quality checks, production to finally vehicle dispatch.
The facility has the capacity to produce 120,000 battery packs annually. Ather Energy is the only EV OEM in India to make its own battery packs, and has filed 13 patents on the design and manufacturing of the li-ion batteries. The 2.9 kWh battery of Ather 450X uses 21700 type li-ion cells giving the battery a high energy density, charge and discharge rates enabling fast charging and high performance.
There is zero effluent generated from the Ather Energy factory. All E-wastes are handled by Authorized Recyclers and there is zero water discharge because of inhouse STP & treated water circulation to flush & plantation.
