Ather 450 Gets Minor Price Drop after Getting FAME-II Approval

Ather Energy recently announced that its 450 electric scooter model has received FAME II approval. For those who are not aware of FAME II, it is the new criteria of the Indian government under which electric vehicles sold in India will be able to avail subsidies. Electric two-wheelers, e-rickshaws, e-three wheelers, all-electric passenger vehicles, and other electric-four wheelers, will get EV subsidies but they need to meet certain standard requirements. Ather Energy has officially announced that their flagship intelligent scooter Ather 450 is FAME 2 compliant and will receive an increased subsidy of Rs. 27,000. Though orders for the scooter have continued in Bengaluru through the month of April, deliveries had been held off by them so the new subsidy benefit could be passed on to the owners. Consumers can expect their Ather 450s to start being delivered in the next couple of weeks, with the new on road price of Rs. 1,23,230. Ather Energy claims to be one of the first auto companies in India to design and build its scooters and charging infrastructure locally. Ather also said that the 450 and Ather Grid will be available in Chennai from the next month and will be followed by more cities in the coming year. Ather Energy plans to install 6500 charging points across the country which will be operational in 30 cities by 2023. Earlier the subsidy amount was INR 22,000 under the FAME-I scheme but as it has gone up by INR 5000 after getting the FAME-II approval, it will now result in the on-road price in Bengaluru to go down by INR 5000 that is from INR 1.28 lakhs to INR 1.23 lakhs. The company’s second electric scooter, the 340, was not applied for this certification because most of the sales come from the 450. Company has also moved its majority of focus on the Ather 450 due to its higher demand. Both scooters look identical to each other but the 450 packs a 5.4kW motor which is good for a top speed of 80 kmph. Its range is claimed to be 75 km and the scooter comes mounted with a 2.71 kWh Li-ion battery. The company has also announced its plans to expand operations to Chennai in June 2019.