India-based Ather Energy, known for its electric scooters has opened up its retail business in Bengaluru and Chennai after lockdown restrictions were lifted in the region. The company has also started making deliveries of its pending orders before the lockdown, but claims to be doing that with all safety measures in place.
As for its experience centres, Ather will restrict number of employees and customers visiting, and providing them with masks and hand sanitisers.They will also be asked to follow strict social distancing guidelines to prevent the coronavirus from infecting anyone in the vicinity.
The startup is limiting the number of deliveries being made, and making sure they are only servicing in orange and green zone areas. Since inter-state transport is yet to become fully operational, Ather is hoping that its spare part manufacturers can help them kickstart production in a limited capacity.
The company had launched the Ather 450x prior to the lockdown but it has been forced to delay its production and delivery process. It is taking pre-orders for both 450 and the 450X with delivery expected in May 2020 and starting from October 2020 respectively.
The successor to the Ather 450, the new Ather comes in two variants Ather 450x and Ather 450 plus. Both the variants come with a 7” touch screen, a Snapdragon Soc, Bluetooth, a Mobile App and Google Maps. It also has a 22l boot and front and rear disk brakes. The 450 plus has a range 70 km and has a peak power of 5.4kW and produces 22Nm of Torque. It can fast charge for 10km in 10 mins and is priced at Rs 1,49,000. The 450x has a range of 85km and can go from 0-40km/h in just 3.3 seconds.It is priced at 1,59,000. It can be charged using the charger provided or any public charging point.