Electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy will offer its connectivity features for free to all new and existing owners of its e-scooters between November 15, 2021 to May 15, 2022.
According to Ather Energy, while India has warmed up to the idea of buying electric vehicles, the power of connectivity and smart features on EVs is yet to be realised. “Unlike the tangible experience of riding an electric transmission, it really takes time and proof to see the value addition that connectivity brings to your ride experience. We want everyone to experience what it feels like to ride and own a connected and intelligent scooter. And, we don’t want the cost of a subscription pack to come in the way of the connected experience,” Abhishek Balaji, community manager at Ather Energy said in a company update.
With this intent, the company has announced that all features of Ather Connect Pro subscription pack will temporarily be available to all existing and new owners of the Ather 450X, 450 Plus, and 450 free of cost, starting 15 Nov ‘21 till 15 May ‘22.
Ather Connect Pro is a connectivity plan usually offered by the company at a subscription price of ₹700 per quarter (excluding GST). It includes features like onboard navigation, over-the-air dashboard improvements, ride statistics on the Ather app, remote location tracking, remote charge monitoring, push location from Ather app.
Also read: Ather Energy acquires rights to AiKaan’s OTA platform
“If you have an active Connect Lite/Pro subscription, we’ll reimburse the amount on a pro-rata basis. The refund mechanisms will take a couple of weeks to operationalise, and we’ll notify you when we start the process. For those not subscribed currently, you’ll start seeing all Connect Pro features starting 15 Nov ‘21 till 15 May ‘22,” Balaji added.
In addition to Ather Connect Pro, the company also has a low-cost subscription plan, Ather Connect Lite with limited features. At the subscription cost of ₹400 per quarter (excluding GST), Ather Connect Lite includes features like onboard navigation and over-the-air dashboard improvements.
Last month, Ather Energy secured the rights to the AiKaan OTA (over-the-air) platform from its partner AiKaan Labs Pvt Ltd. OTA is the cornerstone of Ather Energy’s connected vehicle platform, enabling its Ather 450 product line to be up-to-date with its software upgrades and feature offerings while also collecting field data to enhance product design and user experience.
Ather Energy was founded in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain. It is backed by the founders of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Hero Motocorp and Tiger Global. Ather Energy launched its electric scooter Ather 450 in 2018, followed by a new flagship offering, Ather 450X, in 2020. Ather Energy currently operates in 23 cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Mysore, and Hubli.