Ather Energy, India’s first intelligent Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturer, began operations from its mega-factory in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, from the January 2nd, 2021. Since then, Ather Energy has begun deliveries in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, with 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 localized, including the battery pack. 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,” Tarun Mehta, CEO and Co-founder of Ather Energy, said in a statement.
“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,” he added.
110,000 Scooters Annually
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. They have confirmed deliveries and presence across 27 cities in 15 states. (Bengaluru, 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). They are likely to expand to 40 cities by the end of 2021.
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 information centric, which tightly integrates Ather Energy’s processes, logistics, warehousing, quality checks, production to finally vehicle dispatch.
Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing
The factory is supported by the government of Tamil Nadu under its EV Policy. Apart from 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 five years.
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.
Zero Effluence
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 and treated water circulation to flush and plantation.
