Ather Unveils Family Escooter Rizta, Forays Into Smart Helmet Segment

Homegrown electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Ather launched its “family scooter” Rizta on Saturday (April 6).

In a statement, the startup said that the new escooter has been designed with the Indian family in mind and focuses on aspects such as comfort, safety and connected tech.

“… Now, we are setting foot in the family segment with the Rizta, which has been designed and engineered with the Indian family in mind. It focuses on key aspects such as comfort, safety and connected tech, which we believe makes it an upgrade from the conventional scooters in the market,” said Ather cofounder and CEO Tarun Mehta.

Mehta told Reuters that the startup expects to attract a wider range of buyers in the country’s north and west regions, thereby, helping boost sales. 

Starting at INR 1.09 Lakh (Bengaluru ex-showroom price), the new escooter will be available in two models and three variants. While the Rizta S model will be available with a 2.9 kWh battery, Rizta Z will have the option of 2.9 kWh and 3.7 kWh batteries. 

As per the startup, the 2.9 kWh variant will deliver a range of 123 kms while the 3.7 kWh variant will deliver up to 160 kms. The new escooter will deliver a top speed of 80 kmph, as per Ather.

At the launch event, Ather also announced its foray into the smart helmet category with its product line ‘HALO’. Not just this, it also rolled out the latest upgrade to its tech stack, AtherStack 6.0.

Ather HALO is a full face, integrated smart helmet that will be available at an introductory price of INR 12,999. At the same event, the company also announced the launch of HALO Bit – a module that can be attached to Ather’s soon-to-be-launched half face helmets. HALO Bit will be priced at INR 4,999.

“We wanted to transform helmets from a mere compulsion to an integral part of a fun, engaging ride. So we built the HALO, our first smart helmet which offers premium sound by Harmon Kardon and integrates our proprietary auto WearDetect technology and wireless charging,” said Ather cofounder and CTO Swapnil Jain.

Meanwhile, the new AtherStack 6.0 upgrade will offer a slew of new features such as WhatsApp integration on the Ather dashboard, live location sharing, auto reply to calls and Alexa integration. The startup said that the new upgrade will also be rolled out to existing Ather scooter owners but with only “some of these features”.

“With new features…, we believe Ather Stack 6.0 will bring an important upgrade to rider safety, convenience and connectivity. Optimising the touchscreen dashboard and revamping the mobile app will offer a seamless ownership experience to both Rizta and Ather 450 customers,” added Jain.

Ather Bats For EV Subsidies 

At the launch event, the Ather CEO reportedly pitched the government to keep EV subsidies intact for another few years to boost the adoption of electric vehicles in the country. As per Economic Times, he said that the overall EV industry needs government incentives to continue to grow at a healthy pace. 

Mehta also urged the Centre to launch the third phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, adding that a “critical and sunrise sector” such as the two-wheeler EV market “could see degrowth with some products becoming unviable” if subsidies were pulled back too quickly.

“We’ve been able to cut down a lot of subsidy reliance, but it’s also come at the cost of almost a year’s worth of lost growth,” Mehta told Reuters in a separate interview.

As per ET, he also said that the company would also continue to require external capital for a few more years to fuel growth. While noting that the EV major would continue to look for funds, Mehta said that the potential fresh capital would largely be used to launch new products instead of “handling business cash losses”. 

The CEO also told Reuters that Ather continues to focus on topline growth, adding that the loss-making giant is yet to break-even. 

“We haven’t broken even yet, I think there’s still a journey, hopefully it’s not very long. Hopefully the Rizta plays a meaningful role because I am happy in how margins are shaping up at a unit level,” he told Reuters. 

Founded in 2013 by Mehta and Jain, Ather Energy is an EV original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that sells electric two-wheelers. Backed by giants such as Hero MotoCorp, GIC, NIIF and Tiger Global, the startup has raised more than $445 Mn in funding till date.

It also boasts more than 1,900 charging points spanning 100+ cities and 191 patent applications, 600+ trademarks, and 200+ design registrations to its name. 

The new launch comes at a time when the electric two-wheeler registrations continue to see a big uptick. In March, total two-wheeler EV registrations jumped more than 65% month-on-month (MoM) to 1.36 Lakh units in March 2024 compared to 82,500 in February 2024.

Ather Energy saw the fourth highest number of registrations in March at 17,204 units, clocking a sharp 90% MoM increase.