Ather Energy launches smart electric scooter S340
Ather Energy, a startup based out of Bangalore has launched its first electric scooter, the S340 in India. Electric and hybrid fuel vehicles are the future. Ather understands it more than any of us. The S340 is not just a scooter powered by electricity, it is also a smart connected device. It has a Linux powered dashboard display which is connected to the network.
90% of the scooter has been designed and manufactured in India. It is a EV for India, by Indians. The S340 will be manufactured in Bangalore. The founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain are both IIT graduates. The company has attracted a lot of attention and till date have received funding of about 82 crores. Ather has done a lot of market study on electric vehicles and scooter owners in India. After extensive research and user studies, they have designed the S340.
S340 is the first EV Scooter from Ather. ‘S‘ stands for scooter with a ‘3‘ KW motor and powered by a “40” Amp hour battery. Hence the model name S340. Unlike the existing electric vehicles, the S340 can clock a max speed of 72 kmph. It has a very flat torque and on a single charge, it can give you a range between 60 to 70 km, depending upon your riding style. It has a very light weight design and is 20% lighter than conventional scooters. The glove compartment under the seat has a large storage good enough to hold 2 helmets. The lamps used in headlight, indicators and tail lamps are all LED. The mono shock absorber at the rear and the dual disc brakes adds to the vehicle’s comfort and safety dimensions. The design gives the scooter a very low center of gravity and gets added stability on the roads.
The S340 is powered by a 40 Ah Lithium Ion battery pack. The battery pack is designed and manufactured in India, though the battery is imported. The battery pack has a lifetime of 50000 km. The quick charger is built into the scooter. The scooter can be charged from 0 to 80% in 50 minutes. Including the battery technology and drivetrain, Ather has filed about 15 patents on the IP side. S340 buyers will get a charging point installed in their home. They will also have access to public charging points across the city. Ather promises to have a charging point every 2 KM in the city. Apart for electricity providers, Ather is partnering with tech parks, malls and large apartment complexes to have charging points.
The highlight of the S340 is it’s always connected dashboard. It requires an active 3G SIM card with data plan. The dashboard is a modified touch screen tablet, again made in India. The dashboard allows syncing your mobile with it. It shows you only the critical information while driving. It also provides you navigation information, built on top of Google maps. The dashboard runs on Linux and it will receive Over the Air updates as and when available. The dashboard lets you configure user profiles and modify the driving settings based on the profiles. Also the vehicles will be reading the data from every single part of the S340. The data will be analysed to offer predictive maintenance.
The S340 will be initially launched in Bangalore, Pune and Chennai. It will be later rolled out to the rest of the country. Ather S340 will be sold only via Ather’s website. There won’t be any sales or service centers. There will be experience centers for customers to experience the EV. Ather will offer free door pickup and delivery for service.
There is no word on the pricing yet. Ather will open its first experience center in Bangalore by Q2 of 2016. The scooter can be pre-ordered then and later the first S340 will grace the streets by end of this year. Ather’s S340 is a new milestone in the Indian Electric vehicle scenario. This hardware startup is here to stay and at the same time will go places.
