Ather Energy localized EVs before India had an EV playbook

When Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain founded Ather in 2013, India had no local benchmarks or standards for electric two-wheelers. The country’s varied weather and terrain, plus a thin R&D and component ecosystem, made a badly engineered scooter a likely failure.

The critical decision was to make localization the route to a viable product. Ather designed for Indian conditions and won early investors in 2014 even though charging infrastructure barely existed.

Its first e-scooter rolled off the production line in mid-2018. By 2024, Ather said it had localized more than 90% of the two-wheeler EV, importing only battery cells; India had become a million-plus two-wheeler EV market.

Ather reported over 90% localization in its two-wheeler EVs by 2024, importing only battery cells, while India’s market grew to more than one million two-wheeler EVs.

India’s weather and terrain diversity made imported assumptions unreliable.

No mature local supplier base meant Ather had to create capability instead of buying a proven template.

Control over quality and cost reduced dependence on imports; battery cells remained the exception.

In a nascent hardware market, tailor the product to local conditions and build the missing supply chain before scaling; localization can turn uncertainty into control over quality and cost.

Ather moved from an unproven concept to a company making new launches, international expansion, and a possible IPO part of its next stage. Its supply chain was more than 90% localized apart from battery cells.