More than 70% of the 200 million registered vehicles in India are two-wheelers. Ather Energy builds e-scooters for the rising middle class that could help commuters ditch highly-polluting, gas-guzzling models.

While sales of Tesla or BYD cars drove electric vehicle adoption elsewhere in the world, two-wheelers have led the green energy transition in India. As one of the earliest “pure play” e-scooter makers, Ather Energy has helped drive micromobility EV penetration throughout India and boosted the shift away from carbon-emitting vehicles.

In 2018, the company introduced an expensive sports scooter, with features like a touchscreen dashboard, built-in navigation, and over-the-air software updates, previously unseen in two-wheelers. Today the company has two product lines: the Ather 450 (a sporty performance scooter) and the Ather Rizta (a family-friendly scooter for daily use). 

Central to the company’s success has been its focus on product quality and the rider experience. Ather installs its own software, manufactures the vast majority of its hardware, and wants to invest much of the proceeds from its initial public offering into R&D. 

Key indicators

• Industry: Electric vehicles
• Founded: 2013
• Headquarters: Bengaluru, India
• Notable fact: Unlike competitors who either rebranded an acquired scooter or sold imported EVs from China, Ather does almost everything in-house, from its software stack to hardware design.

Potential for impact

While emissions of individual two-wheelers is much less compared to that of a car or a larger vehicle, the sheer number of these scooters on Indian roads adds up. Two-wheelers contribute about one-third of transport emissions in India, and successful electrification could reduce their share to just 3% by 2050. Ather’s success in moving people from gas-guzzling scooters to electric could not only propel India closer to its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 but also reduce health impacts in a country where around 1.5 million deaths a year are from breathing polluted air.

As the country’s leading EV-only scooter maker, Ather’s successful expansion could supercharge India’s shift away from fossil fuels, and help achieve the government’s goal of reducing air pollution, while also building a market presence internationally.

In mid-2024 Ather introduced the Ather Rizta, a spacious family scooter with a large seat, more storage, and fast charging, which sold over 100,000 units within a year of its launch. To catch up to well-capitalized competitors, such as Ola Electric, Ather is spending $105 million to build a third factory that aims to produce 500,000 two-wheelers a year by March 2027. It has also expanded its charging network to some 4,000 charging points and has pushed into newer markets, including Nepal and Sri Lanka. 

Caveats

In the past five years, driven by state and federal incentives, electric vehicle competition turned fierce in India. Car and scooter makers raced to capture the market, including legacy automakers TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto. Both have since zoomed past Ather, selling cheaper e-scooters and scaling faster, by leveraging their sprawling retail presence. Together, they have cornered a combined share of 40% of India’s e-scooter market. 

Meanwhile, EV adoption has grown more slowly in India than expected. Indian EV sales were 7.6% in 2024, far off pace of hitting the government’s target of 30% by 2030.

For Ather to have a real impact on India’s transport emissions, it must scale significantly. The company is working to double its retail footprint to 700 stores and continue its expansion into smaller cities. But geopolitics could interfere: China’s retaliatory export ban on critical rare earth minerals in response to US tariffs announced in April caused a ripple effect; Ather said in August that it has found it hard to secure the magnets it needs for its motors. 

Next steps

As the Indian government rolls back subsidies that slashed the cost of purchasing an electric scooter, Ather plans to launch cheaper options. In mid-2024, it began transitioning to a newer battery chemistry called lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) that has lower environmental impacts, requires fewer expensive minerals, and should be about 20% cheaper than other battery packs. 

The company isn’t profitable, but its gross profit per vehicle has been improving. Momentum seems to be building—in May, Ather reported its annual sales to March 2025 were up 42 percent compared to the year prior. Now, the company is betting that investing further into product innovation will help it take the lead in India’s two-wheeler revolution.