Ather vs Ola⚔, Blow for Tesla🙅🏻‍♂️, Amazon Q4 results📈

Ather plans new scooters to take on Ola, India refuses tax breaks for Tesla, Amazon reports strong Q4 results, Funding Deals & more.

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Feb 07, 2022

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Ather plans new scooters to take on Ola in EV war🛵

Ather Energy has started working on new variants of its electric scooters with a longer range and better value for money. The company is building a bigger battery pack for this.

Ather Energy’s move comes amid increasing competition in the EV space, especially from Ola Electric that recently launched its own electric two-wheelers, the S1 and S1 Pro.

Range – the distance an EV can travel before its battery needs to be recharged – is one of the most important factors customers look at when buying such a vehicle. On this, Ather’s two-wheelers lag Ola’s.

Ather plans to launch a new variant with better battery life in six months, one of the sources said. It is expected to provide a real-life range of 110-115 km on a full charge, up from the 85 km the current Ather 450x offers.

Blow for Tesla as India refuses tax breaks🚗

The government has turned down a demand by Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. for lower taxes on imported electric cars, saying the rules already allow bringing in partially built vehicles and assembling them locally to pay less tax.

The government wants Tesla to build or assemble cars locally, while the company wants India to lower its duty -- as high as 100% – on imported EVs to allow the company to first sell vehicles built elsewhere at competitive prices. The duty on parts assembled in India is 15-30%.

Politicians from at least five states have invited Tesla to set up shop in their respective states after Musk said last month the US electric-vehicle pioneer was still facing a lot of challenges with the federal government.

Musk has been planning to bring Tesla to India since 2019 and the company made its first moves in 2021. But talks between Tesla and the government have come to a standstill over two main issues: high taxes and Tesla committing to set up a factory and manufacture cars in India.

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Colexion, a celebrity NFT platform has raised over $5 million in funding. Colexion is a platform that allows fans to buy, trade and sell digital collectibles in the form of NFTs.
Pillow, a decentralised finance startup that helps generate yields on crypto investments, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Elevation Capital.

Amazon reports strong Q4 results despite supply chain snags📦

Amazon reported strong fourth-quarter sales and profits even as the online behemoth continues to contend with surging costs tied to a snarled supply chain and labour shortages.

The Jeff Bezos-led company also raised its annual Prime membership fee to $139 per year from $119. This is the first time Amazon has raised the price of Prime membership since 2018.

The company reported a profit of $14.32 billion, or $27.75 per share, for the three-month period ended December 31, 2021. Shares rose more than 13% in after-hours trading when Amazon released its results.

Meta Platforms CEO lost $29 billion in net worth on Thursday as Meta Platforms Inc's stock marked a record one-day plunge, while fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos was set to add $20 billion to his personal valuation after Amazon's blockbuster earnings.

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