Ather Energy Targets 20% Market Share In Near Term: CEO Tarun Mehta

The automobile industry needs more hedging by way of roping in more countries and suppliers to avert issues like the restricted supply of rare earth elements and magnets faced by original equipment manufacturers recently, Ather Energy co-founder and chief executive officer Tarun Mehta has said.

New Electric Scooter Platform EL

Mehta, who announced the launch of a new electric scooter platform EL at the Ather Community Day in Bengaluru on Saturday, which will produce e-scooters for multiple segments, said that the company in the near-term was looking at a 20% market share.

The first product from the latest two-wheeler architecture is expected to be rolled out next year. Electric vehicles in India are gaining traction, and Ather Energy is poised to capitalize on this trend.

Overcoming Supply Chain Challenges

Mehta emphasized the need for the automobile industry to diversify its supply chain, citing the recent restrictions on the supply of rare earth elements and magnets from China. “I think it (the issue of restricted supply of rare earth magnets) is sorted out for now. But I think the better answer now is to move away from heavy rare earths to at least light rare earths, which is what we are trying to do at Ather. And the faster we get away, I think the better we will all be,” Mehta told PTI in a post-launch interaction.

Eventually, the world is very volatile now, “and we need solutions…we need more hedging. We need to hedge different countries, we need to hedge different suppliers altogether”, he said. Investing in electric vehicles requires a deep understanding of the supply chain and its potential risks.

EL Platform: A Game-Changer

On the EL platform, Mehta said the new platform brings down the number of parts in the e-scooter to 15 at the vehicle level, making it 15% faster to assemble the product and also overall 15% cheaper to produce at the assembly level. “EL has a lower cost fundamentally because its transmission is a lower cost architecture. And its frame is a unibody steel chassis instead of a bolted aluminium frame. Those two things put together basically mean that the cost is lower,” he said.

He said that the company has also been able to further reduce cost with our charge drive controller where the charger and the motor controller come together in a singular pack and that helps reduce cost further. Electric scooter manufacturing is a complex process, and Ather Energy’s innovative approach is expected to disrupt the market.

Market Share and Expansion Plans

He said that the company currently holds a 17% share in the domestic electric two-wheeler space, which has doubled compared to the April-June quarter of last year. “(Achieving) 20% market share is something I think that is possible for our business in the near term,” Mehta stated.

Noting that the company is just not a leader in Southern India but also in Gujarat and North-east, he said, “there are many cities all over north where we are market leaders. So I think the real opportunity for us and the real need for us is to keep focus and keep adding more and more stores. As that happens, our market share should inch up.” Ather Energy’s expansion plans are ambitious, with a focus on increasing its retail presence across the country.

Charging Infrastructure and Standardization

Mehta emphasized on standardisation of charging infrastructure in the country, for accelerating the EV demand, and also filling the gap in charging facilities by having at least a charging point in every apartment complex. “I think we also need to do a lot more work on standards. We talked today about how our charging standard is now a national standard, but that’s honestly a rarity. It’s still not driven hard enough,” he added. Electric vehicle charging infrastructure is a critical component of the EV ecosystem, and Ather Energy is working to address this challenge.

Ather Energy at present has 416 outlets pan-India and the near-term target is to have 700 outlets by March next year, he said and added that in the last two quarters alone as many as 180 such stores have come up across the country. The company’s retail expansion plans are expected to drive growth and increase market share.