Ather Rizta: the family e-scooter that took a Bengaluru start-up national

The problem

Two-wheelers are the backbone of personal transport in India, with petrol scooters and motorcycles making up the large majority of vehicles on city roads. Each one is small, but together they burn a large share of the country’s petrol and add to the exhaust and noise of congested streets.

Electric two-wheelers fit Indian trips well: most daily journeys are short, many households can charge at home, and electric scooters cost far less per kilometre to run. But early e-scooters were often either cheap and unreliable or sporty and cramped. Families wanted the practical things a petrol scooter offered: a big seat, storage, comfort and a trusted service network.

The product

The Ather Rizta was launched on 6 April 2024 as a “convenience-first” family scooter, alongside Ather’s performance-focused 450 series (Ather). Its main features (Ather):

• a choice of 2.9 kWh or 3.7 kWh battery packs, with an Indian Driving Cycle (IDC) range of 123 km and about 159 km;
• 56 litres of storage: a 34 litre space under a long seat plus an optional 22 litre front trunk;
• connected software (AtherStack) with navigation, ride statistics and safety features, offered as a Pro package;
• access to Ather’s fast-charging network, which the company says now has over 6,000 charging points.

After a price rise on 1 June 2026 linked to raw material costs, the four variants cost roughly ₹1.21 lakh to ₹1.59 lakh ex-showroom (EVSelect).

Software is a big part of the pitch, and of the business. In Q4 FY 2025-26, 93% of Ather buyers chose the paid AtherStack Pro package, and non-vehicle revenue from software, charging, accessories, spares and service rose to 13% of total income (Ather). Ather was also the first Indian two-wheeler maker to build its own fast-charging network, the Ather Grid, designed and built in India and using its LECCS connector. That matters for buyers in cities where many people live in flats without a private parking spot.

How it works

1. Charge: most owners plug in at home overnight with a portable charger.
2. Ride: an electric motor drives the rear wheel, with selectable riding modes.
3. Recover: regenerative braking returns some energy when slowing in traffic.
4. Connect: the scooter’s software shows navigation, battery state and alerts on a dashboard and phone.
5. Top up: on longer trips, riders use Ather Grid fast chargers in cities.
6. Service: a network of about 548 service centres handles maintenance and repairs.

Timeline

Date	Milestone
2013	Ather founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain
2018	First Ather scooter on sale
6 Apr 2024	Rizta launched; deliveries begin in July 2024
2025	Ather lists on Indian stock exchanges
FY 2025-26	Record 262,942 scooters sold, up 69%
11 May 2026	Rizta passes 300,000 units
29 Aug 2026	Lower-priced Konarc launched

Impact and numbers

• Sales: Ather sold 262,942 scooters in FY 2025-26, up 69%, with record Q4 volumes of 83,418 units, and its share of India’s electric two-wheeler market rose to 18.6%. Total income was ₹3,823 crore, up 66% (Ather).
• Rizta: it passed 100,000 units in about 11 months and 300,000 in two years, and made up about 76% of Ather’s FY 2025-26 sales (Ather; Autocar Professional).
• Reach: the Rizta helped quadruple Ather’s market share in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, from 4.1% in Q1 FY25 to 17.3% in Q4 FY26. Retail outlets doubled to 700 in a year.
• 2026 so far: 258,684 Ather scooters were delivered between 1 January and 28 September 2026, a 16.7% share of India’s e-2W market, already above its total for 2025 (Autocar Professional).

Honest caveats. Ather is not yet profitable: it lost ₹517 crore in FY 2025-26, although that was down from ₹812 crore, and its EBITDA margin was minus 6.7% for the year. IDC range figures are measured on a gentle test cycle; real-world range in traffic, heat and with a pillion is usually lower. The climate benefit depends on India’s grid, which is still mostly coal-based, so lifetime CO2 savings over a petrol scooter are smaller than in Europe, even though tailpipe emissions in cities fall to zero (CEA). Policy support is shrinking: under PM E-DRIVE, the incentive for registered e-2Ws was ₹5,000 per vehicle at most, and that sub-component closed on 26 December 2025 once targets were met (PIB); an earlier release had given 31 March 2026 as the end date (PIB). Ather also reports that FY 2025-26 saw “multiple supply chain crises” and expects volatile commodity costs. Competition is intense: Autocar India ranks Ather third among Indian electric two-wheeler makers, behind the established motorcycle groups TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto (Autocar India), and price cuts by rivals keep pressure on margins.

What’s next

Ather is building “Factory 3.0” at AURIC in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, and plans a new scooter platform, EL, aimed at the largest, most price-sensitive part of the market. The Konarc, launched in August 2026, targets buyers who would otherwise choose a petrol scooter.

Why it matters for Europe / green buyers

Europe’s scooter and moped markets are small next to India’s, but the Rizta shows what drives mass adoption of electric two-wheelers: practical design for families, a dense service network and fast charging, not just a low price. European cities that want to replace petrol mopeds, delivery scooters and short car trips can learn from India’s push to electrify the vehicles people already use, and from building a dedicated fast-charging network for light vehicles at the same time as the scooters, rather than waiting for others to do it.

For India, the shift is already measurable. Electric scooters are moving from early adopters in the south to “middle India”, and companies like Ather are proving that home-grown design, software and charging can compete. The next challenges are profitability without subsidies, cleaner electricity and battery recycling at scale.

Sources & image credits

1. Ather Energy, press release on audited results for FY 2025-26 (4 May 2026): https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/corporate/ATHERENERGY_04052026121057_SEintimationpressrelease.pdf
2. Ather Energy, “Rizta crosses 3 lakh sales milestone” press release (11 May 2026): https://media.atherenergy.com/Press-Release-May-11-2026.pdf
3. Autocar Professional, “Ather Rizta crosses 300,000 sales, commands 76% share of EV startup’s portfolio in FY2026”: https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/ather-rizta-crosses-300000-sales-commands-76-share-of-ev-startups-portfolio-in-fy2026-132480
4. Autocar Professional, “Ather Energy sales cross 800,000 as new Konarc enters market” (Sep 2026): https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis/ather-energy-crosses-800000-sales-as-new-konarc-checks-in-134971
5. Ather Energy, “Ather Rizta”: https://www.atherenergy.com/rizta
6. Autocar India, “Ather Rizta crosses 3 lakh sales milestone in India” (May 2026): https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-news/ather-rizta-crosses-3-lakh-sales-milestone-in-india-439680
7. EVSelect, “Ather hikes Rizta prices; now starts at ₹1.21 lakh” (Jun 2026): https://www.evselect.in/blog/ather-rizta-price-hike-june-2026
8. PIB, “PM E-DRIVE: a step towards a sustainable future” (1 Oct 2026): https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2317890&lang=1&reg=48
9. PIB, “Ministry of Heavy Industries extends the tenure of the PM E-DRIVE Scheme” (8 Aug 2025): https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2154408&lang=2&reg=48
10. Central Electricity Authority, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector: https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en

Images:

• “Green Vehicle Expo 2025 (Bangalore International Exhibition Centre) 115” by Gpkp, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Vehicle_Expo_2025_(Bangalore_International_Exhibition_Centre)_115.jpg