Ather Energy
Response to battery-as-a-service has been lukewarm, says Ather Energy's Jain
This story was originally published at 18:20 IST on 16 September 2025
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025
--Ather Energy: Need to create incentives for startups in EV space
--CONTEXT: Comments by Ather Energy co-founder Swapnil Jain at energy event
--Ather Energy Jain: Response to battery-as-a-service model lukewarm so far
By Anand JC
NEW DELHI – Ather Energy Ltd.'s recently launched battery-as-a-service offering on its Rizta and 450 Series electric scooters has received a lukewarm response a month into the launch, according to its Co-founder Swapnil Jain. "We will assess if we want to offer the service on future models. Indians are not used to this model of leasing," Jain told Informist on the sidelines of the FT Energy Transition Summit India on Tuesday.
The Bengaluru-based automotive startup launched the Ather Rizta at INR 75,999 and the 450 Series starting at INR 84,341, excluding the battery cost, in August. Customers can purchase the battery starting at INR 1 per kilometre. "The battery as a service model is an experiment," Jain said.
The company recently said that it has sorted out the issue of rare earth magnet shortage and is instead opting for a lighter rare earth magnet variety. "We didn't really focus on it (opting for light rare earth magnets) before because heavy rare earth minerals worked for us," Jain said. Given the data available on its electric scooters, Ather Energy realised that it could switch to light rare earth magnets without affecting the heat-resistant issues lighter varieties usually face.
The government has cut goods and services tax rates across products, which is expected to benefit automobile companies. Though the GST rate on two-wheelers has been reduced to 18% from 28% starting Sept. 22, the rate on electric two-wheelers will remain unchanged at 5%. Jain said the falling price differential between internal combustion engine variants and electric variants won't impact demand for its electric scooters. "Change in TCO (total cost of ownership) is not a lot after the GST cut," Jain said.
Earlier, addressing the summit, Jain said that the company could not gain from the production-linked incentive schemes for electric automakers. Jain urged the government to offer sops to startups to foster innovation in the space.
Tuesday, shares of Ather Energy ended at INR 556.30 on the National Stock Exchange, up 1.7% from the previous close. End
Edited by Saji George Titus
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