Ather Energy CTO Swapnil Jain has confirmed that the company’s upcoming electric bike will tackle 150-300cc ICE motorcycles within three years.Ather Energy has confirmed that it plans to go beyond just electric scooters. At the sidelines of the recent Ather Konarc launch, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Swapnil Jain confirmed that the Bengaluru-based EV manufacturer is working on its first electric motorcycle that will be launched in the next three years.
Speaking to the media, Jain said that it is planning for the upcoming Ather electric bike to directly compete in the popular 150-300cc internal combustion engine (ICE) motorcycle segment — one of the most volume and aspirational segments in the Indian two-wheeler market.“We still believe that it will be somewhere between 150cc and 300cc sort of a segment. But what exact form, what exact addressable market, it needs a bit more refinement before we can talk about it,” Jain said.
The company has spent nearly a year studying motorcycle customers and their preferences. Jain noted that motorcycles are far more emotional products compared to scooters, which are largely utility-driven. Knowing the wide variety of body styles, riding styles, and customer expectations is a key challenge.
Ather is taking a deliberate approach. The company wants to get the product right rather than rushing a motorcycle to market that does not make a big impact. Jain indicated that Ather wants to launch “in around three years or less,” focusing on comprehensive development rather than speed.
This is a significant strategic expansion for Ather, which has so far been focused only on premium and mass-premium electric scooters, including the 450 series, Rizta, and the newly launched affordable Konarc (built on the new EL platform).While the company had spoken about a motorcycle platform (internally referred to as Zenith in some reports) targeting the 125-300cc equivalent space in the past, timelines have been refined as Ather focused on scaling its scooter portfolio and new platforms.
With the electric motorcycle still in the development and customer-insight phase, technical details such as battery chemistry, motor power, voltage architecture, range, and design direction have not yet been revealed. The company is working on a dedicated platform that can support a range of battery packs and motor outputs while incorporating signature Ather software and connected features
.If Ather can deliver a compelling product in the 150-300cc performance space, it could become one of the first major pure-play EV players to seriously challenge established ICE motorcycle strongholds in India.