Bangalore-based startup showcases smart electric scooter at Surge 2016

Mumbai: Bengaluru-based startup, Ather Energy, has unveiled India’s first smart scooter at the ongoing Surge conference. The startup is founded by IITians Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, and has received funding from Tiger Global and Flipkart founders.

The S340 smart scooty features a lithium ion battery pack with a top speed of 72 kmph and a range up to 60kms. The battery pack uses the 18650 cell format, also seen in Tesla’s Model S electric scooter. It takes 50 minutes to achieve 80 per cent charge using the fast charging mode. The S340’s IP67-rated battery pack claims a life cycle of 50,000 kms and a life span of 5-6 years.

The scooty comes with a touchscreen dashboard integrating cloud-based data that helps personalise the consumer ride experience. Some features include a profile-based sign in, onboard navigation and pre-configured drive modes. The scooter comes integrated with a S340 mobile app that helps configure the ride and profile preferences. You can even sync navigation routes.

The scooter will be manufactured in India. The manufacturing unit is in Bengaluru and the production is likely to begin by the end of this year. The test rides will begin in the next few months and the company will start taking pre-booking orders in select cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune.