Ather Energy Expands R&D Facility In Bengaluru To Enhance Product Testing

Ather Energy Limited, India’s electric two-wheeler manufacturers, expanded its R&D and testing capabilities at its Product Testing & Validation Centre- The Juggernaut, in Begur, Bengaluru. The upscaling of this facility is to ensure the quality, reliability and performance of their scooters, while also increasing product development, testing and validation.

The Juggernaut facility spans 38,692 sq. ft. and is designed to validate durability and safety across vehicle, system and component levels, including on-road endurance. The facility features dedicated labs for structural durability, battery testing, electrical & electronics reliability and vehicle environment testing.

One of the key feature of the facility is a 4 DOF Road Simulator/MTS 334 road load simulator, for testing suspension frames that helps in finding early bug detection, faster design optimization and lower change costs. The simulator is also capable of replicating intricate real-world two-wheeler riding conditions, compressing a 1,00,000 km endurance test into just 15 days - a process which typically takes around 10 years to cover on road.

Additionally, in this facility Ather also conducts battery validation tests including thermal performance test, water wading test, drop test and vibration and thermal cycling to tune the battery for performance and safety. Battery packs are tested under real-world load conditions, cycling them through typical customer usage patterns to monitor degradation in equivalent kilometers.

Ather currently operates 3 R&D facilities in Bengaluru, Karnataka and has 2 manufacturing plants in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, one each for vehicle assembly and battery manufacturing and an upcoming third manufacturing facility in Bidkin, AURIC, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra.

Swapnil Jain, Co-founder & CTO, of Ather Energy, said, “EVs are radically different from ICE vehicles and are a relatively new technology, so it is important to thoroughly test all the components of the vehicle. At Ather, we have made significant investments in R&D over the years and have developed processes & standards for testing to deliver quality products. Our products go through rigorous tests that are designed around Indian riding conditions and extreme usage scenarios, reflecting how customers use our scooters. With the expansion of The Juggernaut, we are scaling up our testing capacity & capabilities, enabling us to accelerate innovation and product development, while maintaining our focus on performance, quality and reliability.”