With fast charging stations in Bengaluru, Ather to kick-off pre-order booking in June

Five years are enough for any promising consumer startup either to grow onto become Unicorn, fight for survival or get wiped out. As a popular investment thesis goes, ,five years are enough to separate men from boys. However, defying the usual fast-paced centred product cycle, Ather Energy has relentlessly been working on electric scooter for over four years.

Anticipating the launch of Ather S340 model, Tarun Mehta, co-founder, Ather Energy has revealed that the company began the work for setting up fast charging infrastructure in Bengaluru.

According to him, the charging stations in Bengaluru will kick-off from next month. “After 4 years, 55 prototypes, 50,000 kms in on-road testing and over a million man hours the S340 is finally ready,” mentions a Medium blog post.

The electric scooter maker would open up the pre-order window for the S340 for customers in Bengaluru from June this year. It also plans to launch its first ‘Experience Center’ at Indiranagar in the state capital for enabling probable buyers to take test rides.

Unlike previous prototypes, S340 final version will have an enhance features including charging port, storage space, waterproof dashboard, battery, charger, regenerative braking, CBS, parking assist, push navigation, charging locations tracking amongst several others.

So far, the Tiger Global-backed e-bike manufacturer has raked in about $40 million risk capital from the likes of India’s largest two-wheeler brand Hero MotoCorp. The Gurugram-based automobile major had infused about $30 million for 30 per cent stake in the company.

Flipkart’s co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal have also led a $1 million worth seed round in Ather in December 2014.

Ahead of its launch, Ather Energy had announced to deploy over $10 million towards its manufacturing facility in October last year. Notably, it’s chief operating officer (COO) Venkatesh Padmanabhan had quit the company for personal reasons.