Bengaluru-based EV maker Ather expects its newly launched Konarc electric scooter to drive more than half of its sales over the next two years. The company is positioning Konarc as a key product in its attempt to take electric scooters mainstream, with the focus less on taking customers from rival EV makers and more on converting buyers who would otherwise remain with internal-combustion engine scooters.
- Konarc has five variants, four of which are priced close to the Rizta
- Manufacturing and availability set to ramp up after the festive season this year
Konarc is expected to make (Ather) EVs mainstream
Konarc has higher profit margins than Rizta despite a lower price
“The role of Konarc is to take EVs mainstream, which, by definition, means that we’re looking at weaning people away from ICE,” said Ather’s chief business officer Ravneet Phokela. “This is not about getting market share from somebody else. It’s really about getting share from the ICE world.” For these customers, he added, Ather first needs to address fundamental considerations around comfort, safety and battery life before features and technology become the differentiators.
Despite a lower starting price of Rs 99,999, the Konarc also has better margins than the Rizta, according to Phokela. It is currently available in five variants (three S and two Z), with four positioned around price points similar to the Rizta’s. Ather has moved from an aluminium chassis for the 450/Rizta to a tubular steel chassis on the Konarc and from a two-stage belt transmission to a gearbox. The charger and motor controller have also been combined into a single unit.
The EL platform has allowed Ather to incorporate learnings from the 450 platform that couldn’t be introduced into that architecture. Phokela described the 450 platform as appropriate for the performance-oriented 450 but “overkill” for the family-focused Rizta, which had to use the existing architecture to meet its development timeline. The EL platform, in contrast, was conceived from the outset as a simpler architecture with a fundamentally lower cost structure.
Konarc is currently being supplied only in parts of North India, with Ather yet to open bookings across central and southern markets. Ather expects this constraint to ease after its new manufacturing facility is commissioned in December, although Phokela said it would take a few months thereafter to ramp up production. More markets are expected to be added progressively as supplies improve. The supply situation has also led Ather to pause showroom expansions for now. It currently has around 750 outlets, with expansion expected to gather pace again after the festive period. Over the next 18-24 months, Phokela sees around 2,000 stores as a target while maintaining that expansion will be calibrated to ensure dealers remain viable and profitable.
With inputs from Mukul Yudhveer Singh and Stephen Raj Antony