Ather Energy Begins Deployment of Fast Charging Network in Chennai

The fast charging network can be used by all electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers and this facility is being offered free of charge till the end of the year by the Bangaluru startup.

Ather Energy has announced the installation of their fast-charging network, Ather Grid in Chennai. The city will see 50 – 55 such points up and running by the end of the year, the company issued in a statement.

Chennai, at present, has 7 active fast charging Ather Points installed and is the second city in India to have company’s charging network. The company has partnered with progressive hosts including cafés, restaurants, tech parks, malls and gyms to reduce range anxiety and ease the adoption of electric vehicles in Chennai. The charging stations can be found at Forum Vijaya mall, AtWorks and Bikes and Burgers, and other restaurants. The company continues to partner with more hosts which can offer EV owners easy accessibility and fit into their lifestyle.

With the installation of the charging network, the startup officially makes its foray into the Chennai market. Following Ather Grid, the city will have its own experience centre – Ather Space – and pre-orders for Chennai will open in June. In the meantime, consumers can express pre-order interest on the company’s website to get early access to test rides and priority deliveries.

The charging network is supported by the Ather Grid app which allows all EV owners to locate and check the availability of the nearest charging stations in real-time. Ather Energy in its accelerated expansion phase targets to set-up 6500 charging points across the country by 2022.

Ravneet Phokela, Chief Business Officer, “Ather Grid has seen steady adoption in Bengaluru and we believe that accessible charging infrastructure is critical before launching our products in any market we enter. We have already signed up with multiple partners and will add 50 charging points by the end of the year. Chennai was a natural choice for our expansion as the auto hub of the country and as the birthplace of Ather in IIT Madras. We are working on setting up the charging network and our experience centre – Ather Space – in time for the launch of the Ather 450 in the coming weeks.”

The Ather Grid solves the critical need of public charging of electric vehicles. As of May 2019, the Ather Grid network spans across 31 charging points across 24 locations in Bengaluru and 7 locations in Chennai.