Ather Energy and Aspire Impact collaborated together to release the company's first ever Impact Report. The impact assessment was done by Aspire Impact; a social enterprise focused on impact leadership & impact ecosystem development. The Impact Report is a detailed analysis of a company's efforts that creates a change in the ecosystem around them. Aspire Impact awarded Ather Energy with Gold Leaf accreditation for its overall impact management. Ather is only the second automotive company after Tesla to have published an impact report and yes, it is the first Indian company to do so as well.
Also Read: Ather Energy Targets Expansion To 100 Cities In Next Two Years
(The assembly line boasts of a young gender-neutral team working together)
In FY2020, Ather sold over 3,000 electric scooters which resulted in savings of over 7.5 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, with over Rs. 2 crore worth of fuel saved. All Ather scooters have run for a combined distance of 10 million kilometres. Along with offering fossil-fuel free mobility solutions, Ather is also taking concrete steps to ensure that it leaves a smaller carbon footprint as an organisation. The company's manufacturing facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu is a pre-engineered building (PEB), which reduces carbon emissions, reduces cost and materials used. The other highlight is the use of high velocity low speed (HVLS) fans at the site, which negates the need to use air-conditioning throughout the building.
Also Read: Ather 450X: Top 5 Rivals
(The new plant is in close proximity to the manufacturer's existing supplier base as well as the headquarters located in Bengaluru)
Ather also uses a lot of natural lighting via skylight panels which reduce dependence on artificial lighting. The company also reports use of high-efficiency LED lighting. In fact, the company plans to utilise up to 80 per cent of its energy consumption from renewable energy resources by installing solar panels. The target to do so by FY2022, which we are currently in!
(Ather currently operates a single assembly line at the plant with space to add more in the future, depending on the demand)
Ather has an in-house sewage treatment plant of 38.5 kilo-litres per day capacity. The company recycles an average 28 kilo-litres per day. The recycled water is utilised for watering the garden belt and toilet flushes. There is a system to loop the wastewater from vehicle washing through a sand bed filter system that ensures no water wastage within the facility. Ather reports taking other steps like avoiding using tissue papers, plastic water bottles, cutlery that resulted in savings of 3.6 metric tonnes and 17.5 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide respectively.
Aspire's criteria includes a proprietary framework which includes a 4P framework - Product, Planet, People and Policy. Aspire further breaks these into 15 categories and 31 sub-categories, with data collected for over 250 metrics.
