Ather
Energy, India’s first intelligent electric scooter manufacturer, has released
its first Impact Report, measuring its overall social, environmental, and
economic impact in 2019-2020. Ather Energy has been awarded a Gold Leaf accreditation for its overall
Impact Management. Ather Energy is the first Indian and second automotive
company globally, besides Tesla, to publish an Impact report.
An
Impact Report is a detailed analysis of a company’s efforts that creates a
change in the ecosystem around them. The impact assessment has been done by
Aspire Impact; a social enterprise focused on impact leadership and impact
ecosystem development.
Having
undergone a comprehensive assessment using Aspire Impact’s proprietary 4P
framework across 250+ impact metrics, Ather Energy has been awarded Aspire
Impact’s Gold Leaf accreditation for its overall Impact Management.
The
global sustainability reporting landscape has been mainly dominated by large,
public-listed companies in many countries including India, as regulations
mandate that each company report on sustainability metrics. While progressive
companies treat ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting as a
critical part of their strategy, sustainability reporting is also evolving, and
Impact reporting is currently the most comprehensive reporting system
available.
Ather
Energy has a two-pronged approach to building a sustainable ecosystem. The
company has built a vehicle and charging infrastructure platform from scratch
and has also focused on helping develop a local supply chain. As a result,
Ather Energy has managed to achieve 99% localisation (except cells) in the
vehicle, making it a truly Make in India product. In parallel, sustainability
has been a core driving force in Ather Energy’s endeavors and operations.
Developed
with a theme of mobilising a new India, the impact captures the sustainability
aspect of Ather’s business. It details out Ather Energy’s Impact across 4
categories of product, people, planet, and policy, including how products have
been developed with superior technology that provides Indian consumers an
option for clean mobility without compromising on performance. In 2019-2020,
Ather Energy’s vehicles saved 7.5 metric tons of CO2 emissions (equivalent to
15 years of riding a 125cc scooter). To date, 40 million km have been ridden
that has saved 30 metric tons of CO2.
The
report also talks about Ather Energy’s commitment to diversity and inclusion,
which has been broadened to include the diversity of thought, experience,
gender, leadership, language and culture.
The company has approximately 30% women employed in the manufacturing
facility, the highest in the Indian automotive sector.
Ather
Energy has set high standards of policy and governance for itself. The report
outlines Ather Energy’s commitment and contribution towards the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ather Energy’s ideologies and cultural
values extend beyond the organization; creating a memorable and collaborative
relationship with customers is a goal that the company exemplifies. Over the
years, Ather has witnessed a strong growing active customer community, growing
from 5,000 to over 14,500 members today.
Ather
Energy aims to be in 100 cities with a new product portfolio by FY2023 and add
more safety features on the product like crash detection & SOS, tow
detection, tyre pressure monitoring system, remote diagnostics, etc. By FY2022,
Ather Energy plans to install 500 charging points across the country. Ather
Energy is also aiming to use 80% of their energy consumption using solar energy
and increase the ratio of recycled water to total water consumption by 84%.