Ather S340 is the e-scooter that will be plying on Bengaluru’s roads soon

The Ather S340 is very much alive

The Ather S340 is alive and kicking, says Ather Energy, with the Bengaluru based start up set to join the ranks of other e-scooter makers like Okinawa and Lohia Auto. The company’s first electric scooter built from scratch, had to jump many hurdles along the way as the team had underestimated the challenges that are faced when taking a new product in prototype stages to production stages. Now, this e-scooter is finally ready after four years, 55 prototypes and 50,000km of on road testing, says the company. Ather Energy is planning to commence commercial production of the S340 in July.

The charging experience is what will differentiate the Ather S340

Ather Energy also says that the scooter in pictures is not for display in an expo or any other auto show, but is actually the final product that is rolling out of their assembly lines at their production facility in Whitefield, Bengaluru. They had faced issues regarding the testing and validation, getting their suppliers in line for the expected quality of the materials that would later be used in the scooter and so on. The company says that there are many features in the scooter that wasn’t available in it earlier, including a water proof charger, a water proof battery, regenerative braking, combined braking system and diagnostic alerts, to name a few. Ather’s management also stresses on the point that the charging experience is what matters to users of e-scooters rather than the riding experience. A valid point, since the electric vehicle scenario in the country is in a nascent stage right now and range of any e-vehicle is a critical parameter.

The Ather S340 will be out on roads soon

Ather Energy is focusing on the charging infrastructure in Bengaluru for now and they have started installations of the charging stations capable of fast charging, which is a smart move. Ather Energy says that their charging stations will go live in May and come June, they’ll be accepting pre-orders for the S340 while also setting up an experience centre for customers at Indiranagar in Bengaluru. The company has plans to expand to other cities as well.