Did you know that Ather is a company that has been in India for more than 10 years?
Well, this is a very good thing. Because 10 years ago, the electric scooters that came to India were cheap Chinese rebranded electric scooters.
The best thing in today's time is that their market is going to end. But if you look at it, the revolution of EV2 wheeler started here because of Ather.
If it wasn't for Ather, there wouldn't be Ola in the market.
If it wasn't for Ola, there would be a company like TVS Bajaj in the market. And all the electric vehicle startups like Ultraviolet, River Indy, Simple Energy do not exist in the market. Because Ather Energy started with this.
Ather Energy had a very good time in the beginning. That they could also make Chinese rebranded electric scooters.
They could give the same thing at a cheap price. For a long time, they invested in R&D and supply chain building. And for 7 years, they worked in the back end and made Ather 450.
Well, these things are very good.
EV Startup vs old Company
But first of all, I want to tell you what is the difference between a normal company and an electric two-wheeler startup company.
A normal two-wheeler company sells most of its cars through petrol. And they have sales through it. Whether I talk about Honda, TVS, Bajaj or Hero.
All these companies primarily sell petrol-driven two-wheelers.
Hero's best-selling petrol two-wheeler is Splendor. Honda's best two-wheeler is Activa. TVS sells Jupiter. Even Bajaj sells Pulsar.
But after all this, the electrification that was happening in the market. So all these companies thought that they should also remove their products.
TVS is a startup. And a new company is differentiating that a startup can do new things. Can bring new technology. Can take a bigger risk. He is not afraid that he will lose his old sales of petrol.
You know this fear. TVS and Bajaj always have this fear.
Especially TVS. Today, in 2025, they also remove a hub motor in their scooter. Well, this type of thing is not relevant at all today.
TVS and Bajaj are only sold today because their dealership network is strong. And these people have the brand recall value.
That is, people know who can trust Bajaj. Can trust TVS. Can trust Honda Activa. They are taking advantage of this thing. And their strong dealerships. Who have touch points with them.
The Start of Ather Use all of them here. But in the electrification game, the story changes completely. Even if I talk about Ather. When Ather started, it was very simple.
When they were making their first electric scooter.
They did not have any reference point in the market. Who to see and make. They had to develop everything themselves.
Do you know that this was the first electric scooter in the market. In which you get a touchscreen dashboard.
At that time, there was no touchscreen in the two-wheeler. Even in China, there was no touchscreen in any electric two-wheeler or petrol.
Ather is the first company. Ather was the first company in the world to have Google Maps. Before this, Google Maps was not in the two-wheeler. Ather was the first company in the world. Which convinced Google to bring it in the two-wheeler.
At that time, even Google did not give much importance to the two-wheeler. And because of this, Ather's products were world class. And the next generation of futuristic.
Ather took out S340. 450 lineup. And by 2019, when their products started coming in the market. Gradually people started liking.
OLA Electric & Ather
Then Ola saw from there. That this story is going on in the market. And we can also jump into the electric scooter market. And then Ola acquires Ather in 2020. In 2021, it brings its electric scooter. And after that, the market expands rapidly.
That is, I am telling you in a simple way. What happened in the market. Ather was in the market after seeing Ather. And after seeing Ola's crazy expansion.
Ather also expanded here. Look, we often talk about Ola vs. Ather. But to tell you the truth. These two companies do not compete with each other.
The target segment of both companies is very different.
Ather plays in premium. Ola plays in every budget category. Ather gives service here. Better sales experience premium. Even I have seen this.
When Ola's scooter came new. When people came for its reviews.
Then people started searching here. Tell me the alternative of Ola here. And here Ather came first. And after that, Ather also improved its product.
New Ather
A New Ather Also took out a new range scooter. So much so that it made itself better than before. And where before. Only in some selected cities of southern India. Was present. And after that. They expanded Pan India here.
This was a very good thing. And seeing the success of Ather. All the other electric two-wheeler companies. In the same market. Like Ultraviolet.
They also made a bike. But somewhere the inspiration came with Ather. And even the new Tesseract.
Looking at that. The 450 lineup of Ather. Inspired a lot from there. I can tell you about Simple Energy. Till that time. It was very similar to Ather. Even today. With Simple Energy.
They have drawn inspiration from Ather. Similar case with River Indy. Even Royal Enfield. Which is making its bike. They have taken a lot of inspiration from Ather.
Ather was in favor of many things. Their main aim.
Ather Rizta With Ather Ristajan. They wanted to finish TBS's Jupiter. Well. They made a family scooter. So that anyone in the family. Can ride it easily.
Even Ather Rista did not stop here. Made a very popular family oriented scooter. And boosted Ather's sales. When 450 lineup. Was made only for youngsters.
Rista was made for the overall family. And it's not that. Only Ather is going to stop here.
Future Ather Products With this. They have an EL platform. Zenith platform. 250cc segment. People will come there. To bring their bikes. It's very interesting.
Ather knew. How to improve their technology. That's why they have. Jaggernaut testing facility. All their existing vehicles. And future vehicles. Will be tested here. In Indian conditions. Because the type of development. They are doing in India.
With limited technology. They had to create a lot of things. One thing I liked about Ather.
Why Ather Feels Magical Whatever feature they build. They do it with a lot of thought. And the rider knows.
That he will know when he uses it. Like if you use Ather. It's very magical. And better than the cars. Implemented here. Even regenerative braking. Cars, bikes.
But when Ather brought. They took it to another level. And made it very advanced. Even statistics in mobile phone. OTA update. All these concepts.
Why Ather not No.1 Ather brought it first. But people ask me. Why Ather didn't achieve. First position in sales. There are some simple reasons.
Ather's product. Is of premium quality. And gives premium experience. Ather never. Tracked such a market. Because of entry level. They want to make a premium product.
Just like Apple's iPhone. Premiumness. And we will stick to it. Even Ather found out. How to solve a problem. Within a day. How to solve a problem. Within a few minutes. Even here.
Many people. Think of Ather. As a European brand. But Ather. Is an Indian brand.
Ather Battery
Ather's battery cells. Are from China or Korea. Ather knows this. Other companies. Have partnerships. With Amarraja battery. To make battery cells in India. Ather knows. What people want. In a product. They delivered that. Benefit with Ather. Range of Ather's product. Is accurate. Range as shown on the dashboard. You can get that range. According to your driving pattern. Many new products. Will come in the future.
Ather A
Bigger EV Brand But it feels good to see. That the company has evolved well. Ather is competing with. Ola electric, TVS, Bajaj.
In the future. If people go in the premium range. And leave the budget scooter. And go for a premium product. Ather will be a priority. They have Apex. With good pick up. Good speed.
Ather Halo
Last year. They launched a helmet category. In which they did R&D. You can listen to music. But if you are in traffic.
You will know about the traffic. For safety. And you can enjoy.
Ather Evolving
They have a R&D team. 800 to 1000 people work here. Good thing is. The company has evolved. They have taken care of.
Long term vision. Not short term. They give priority to engineering. Good thing is. They try to replicate. Other companies. Like when they brought. Battery warranty.
And 70% degradation. In 8 years. If more than 70% battery. Degrades. They can replace it for free. Ather was the first company. To give protection for deep discharging. Even today. B
ajaj is the best in the market. But they do not provide. 8 years warranty. Just because of their name.
But once Ather gets more products and expands faster, they have the potential to become number one in the market.
Conclusion
If I compare it with Ola Electric, then the direction of both is very different.
Ola covers the whole segment here. You have to take them out in cheap, expensive, range and you have to focus a lot on features.
It should be seen that if it was not for Ather, then Ola Electric would have existed here. And because of Ola Electric, Ather also got a competition here.
Because of which people were able to bring their new products here and improve their software features.
In the foreseeable future, what does Ather do here? If you want to give feedback about Ather's product, then yes, Ather can increase the size of the battery in its product.
Can give more range. They have used a lot of 450 lineup. Can bring an upgradation of it.
Now there is a demand for electric bikes in the market. So it is worth seeing what they do in the electric bike segment in the market.
But let me tell you one thing, in the market, the demand for electric vehicles is increasing very fast.
Even in a state like Delhi, it has happened that after 2026, the registration of the petrol two-wheeler will not be taken here. Because of which the demand for electric will increase.
By 2030, there will be a lot of people in the market who will buy electric two-wheelers.
A company like Ather will already lead here. Some new companies will lead. And the cheap Chinese electric scooters will gradually get out of the market.
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