Ather celebrates the inauguration of its new experience center at Wallace Garden, Nungambakkam
by Suman Gupta
Chennai, July 24, 2019: After the successful launch of Ather 450 and 340 in Chennai earlier this month, Ather Energy, has officially inaugurated, ‘Ather Space’, the Ather experience center at Wallace Garden Road, Nungambakkam on 24th July. The inauguration was led by a group of enthusiastic Ather customers, who wanted to be the first ones to experience Ather Space.
Ather Space was designed to educate customers about electric vehicles while providing a holistic experience in an interactive space. The company inaugurated the first experience center in Bengaluru in June 2018 and opened the second one in Chennai today. Chennaites can now ride the Ather 450 and get an in-depth view of the product and features before pre-ordering the vehicle. Customers can also book test ride slots on the website prior to visiting the experience center.
The Wallace Garden experience center is designed to be a dynamic, tactile and interactive space. The center’s design and user experience has been improved based on Ather’s learnings from the Bengaluru Ather Space and the Chennai center is twice in size of its Bengaluru counterpart. Customers can learn about every aspect of the vehicle and witness the engineering and mechanical efforts that have gone into manufacturing it through a naked scooter up on display. Apart from seeing the key components of the scooter, one can learn and interact with the intelligent and connected features through a digital display.
Ather began accepting pre-orders for Ather 450 in Chennai on 9th July and since then have received a phenomenal response from customers and are sold out till the end of the year. The brand has a thriving community, Ather Forum in its launch cities. The inauguration by consumers instead of company officials is a recognition of this ardent following of the community who are making an active choice of going electric.
The on-road price of the Ather 450 is INR. 1,31,683 and Ather 340 will be priced at INR. 1,19,091 in Chennai. The price includes the regulation 2 helmets, along with the FAME 2 subsidy and other basics like insurance, road tax, GST, and other fees.
Ather began the installation of its Ather Grid points in Chennai on May 2019 and has installed ten fast charging points, so far. These charging points can be found in malls like Forum Vijaya Mall, offices like AtWorks and cafes, restaurants, and even grocery stores. To encourage adoption of EVs in the city, Ather Energy will provide free charging at Ather Grid till December 2019 for all electric 4Ws & 2Ws and will add 40-50 more charging points to their network.
Quote by Ravneet Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy:
“Our experience centers are designed to reflect Ather’s value proposition, a great experience powered by intelligence. It is a place where people can experience the scooters, understand our drive to build high-performance electric vehicles, and be a part of the electric future. Typically, a consumer spends about 45 minutes on average at an Ather experience center which is unique in the category. In fact, our stores are managed by engineers who are product specialists and are focused on consumer experience rather than mere sales. As in Bengaluru, the Chennai Ather Space will help to initiate conversations about electric vehicles and attract a lot of customers.”
About Ather: Ather Energy, India’s first intelligent electric vehicle manufacturer was founded in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni, Tarun Mehta, and Swapnil Jain. Backed by founders of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal, Hero Motocorp and Tiger Global. Ather Energy has designed India’s first truly intelligent electric scooters – Ather 450 & Ather 340 – powered by a comprehensive public charging network, Ather Grid, built and designed in India. With 31 charging Points in Bengaluru and 10 charging Points in Chennai, Ather Grid is the largest fast-charging network for electric vehicles in the country. The company’s product line has won 25 awards in the design, automotive and technology categories. With over 51 patent applications, 113 trademarks and 123 design registrations to its name, Ather Energy aims to provide consumers with the best possible ownership experience. Ather Energy currently operates in Bengaluru and Chennai, and will expand to other major cities across the country.
