Ather Energy, India’s first smart electric scooter manufacturer, has announced its partnership with IDFC bank to offer a first-in-the-industry EV financing option to its customers. Now, consumers have an easy option to upgrade and own a much smarter and faster Ather 450X scooter by incurring the same monthly expense as that of a conventional petrol scooter. This scheme is expected to make Ather scooters more accessible to customers by offering a lucrative financing option to customers and drive faster adoption of electric vehicles.
The scheme also provides the flexibility to customers to purchase an Ather 450X or a 450 Plus with a down payment as low as 5% of the on-road price applicable in the respective city. However, for the first time in the E2W space, IDFC is offering all this at a 48 month loan tenure, making the EMIs extremely easy to afford. To add to this, customers will be able to get an approval in 45 minutes and there is zero processing fee. Customers can exchange their old scooters or motorcycles at zero down payment*. Practically, at a lower cost, consumers can bring home a modern, performance-oriented scooter that is equipped with smart features like touchscreen dashboard, on-board navigation, reverse assist, document storage, and theft and tow notifications.
Ravneet S. Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy, said, “We believe that attractive financing plans and new financial models around adoption will play a crucial role in bringing in the next phase of growth for the industry. The EV financing scheme introduced today in partnership with IDFC Bank is a significant step in many ways towards driving faster adoption of electric 2-wheelers in the country. The scheme offers a first-ever 48 month tenureship on Ather’s electric scooters. Now a customer buying a much superior Ather 450X with this scheme would have the same monthly expense as that of owning a 125cc scooter, making our scooters more accessible for a wider customer base across the country. This will enable us to further accelerate the strong demand we are witnessing, as we expand our retail footprint across the country.”
“It is also crucial to note that Ather is the first OEM in the industry that has received a 48 month tenure for its scooters which reiterates the trust that our finance partners have on our vehicle. This is a reflection of their confidence in our product quality and reliability. as well as the resale value of the product.” added Ravneet
IDFC First Bank was an early adopter of the EV market and has established itself as a bankable partner for Ather’s customers. This has become a critical cohort as the company is expanding into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Mr. Rishi Kant Mishra, Business Head, Vehicle Loans said “IDFC First Bank has been amongst the front runners in electric two wheeler financing. Our ever evolving offerings to match diverse customer segments , and our end to end digitized customer journey will add tremendous value to Ather Energy’s customer financing experience”
Ather Energy has grown phenomenally in 2022, with a 202% Y-o-Y growth (April-October) in the number of active Ather scooters on-road. The company registered its highest-ever monthly sales by delivering 8,213 units in October 2022. The company anticipates sustained growth in demand and is investing heavily in building a favourable EV ecosystem in the country. Ather has installed 600+ fast-charging stations across 55+ cities in India, to alleviate range and charging anxiety and plans to install 1400 Ather Grids by the end of FY23. The company plans to expand its retail presence to 150 outlets in 100+ cities by March 2023.
