How would you improve the Ather Grid charging experience for owners on intercity trips?

Introduction

Ather Grid is Ather Energy's public charging network. It started as fast chargers in Bengaluru and Chennai and now includes thousands of fast and neighbourhood charging points across India; Ather reported 4,357 chargers by December 2025. Ather also pushed its LECCS charging connector, which became an Indian standard for light electric vehicles, so other brands can use compatible chargers.

The prompt: how would you improve the Ather Grid experience for owners taking intercity trips, such as Bengaluru to Mysuru or Pune to Lonavala? Daily commuting rarely needs public charging; trips beyond one charge do. This is where range anxiety peaks and where a bad charging stop can sour an owner on EVs. I'll clarify, segment users, analyse pain points, generate solutions, prioritise with RICE and define metrics.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (5 mins)

• Looking at usage, I'm thinking intercity trips are a small share of rides but a large share of anxiety. Do we know how many owners attempt trips longer than one charge?

• Hypothetical answer: About 18% of 450 owners and 9% of Rizta owners made at least one trip above 80 km in the last six months.
• Impact: A minority, but they are the most vocal advocates and reviewers.

• Considering the network, are we improving only Ather-owned fast chargers or also neighbourhood chargers at cafés and partner locations?

• Hypothetical answer: Both, since neighbourhood chargers on highways are often at dhabas, cafés and fuel stations.
• Impact: Reliability of partner-hosted chargers is in scope.

• Thinking about the product, does trip planning live in the Ather app, on the dashboard, or both?

• Hypothetical answer: Navigation runs on the dashboard via Google Maps integration; charger discovery lives mainly in the app.
• Impact: The planning and riding experiences are split across two screens.

• What's the success goal: more trips, more Grid revenue, or happier owners?

• Hypothetical answer: Owner confidence and NPS first; Grid revenue is secondary.