EV maker Ampere ventures into EV charger business

The latest example of a Make-in-India product in the automotive space is an electric vehicle (EV) charger. Developed by Coimbatore-based electric two- and three-wheeler maker, Ampere Vehicles, the EV charger will be officially launched by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, tomorrow. 

It is part of a project partly funded by the Technology Development Board, Ministry of Science & Technology, government of India. The EV charger was first noticed by the Technology Development  Board during a road show in Coimbatore around five years ago, when it invited a few companies to showcase their new innovations. The Board plays a proactive role by encouraging enterprises to commercialise key technologies in emerging sectors. It provides equity capital or loans (interest rate of 5 percent) to industrial concerns and financial assistance to Research and Development institutions.

Hemalatha Annamalai, founder and CEO, Ampere Vehicles is betting on her company's new business, which also is expected to be a driver in the company's goal to turn profitable by the end of this financial year. "The EV space has come to a growth phase now. In another year and a half to 2 years, the industry will be at a tipping point. The massive scale will come then," Hemalatha told Autocar Professional.

That scale may come in a few years, but Hemalatha is betting on the parc of electric two-wheelers in the country to be a key driver for her charger business.  "There're 220,000 electric two-wheelers in India. We expect good demand in the replacement market," she says. With features such as microcontroller-based intelligent battery charger system, automatic shut down after full charge, overload protection, over temperature shutdown with auto recovery and short circuit protection with auto recovery, the Indian company expects to score over some imported chargers which do not meet the India power grid conditions.

Priced at Rs 1,700 (Rs 300-400 more than other chargers), Hemalatha hopes that customers will see value in the new chargers with their features as quality of charging also impacts the life of a battery, which is 30 to 50 percent of an EV's cost. Currently, the Ampere charger can only charge electric two-wheelers with lead acid batteries. Chargers for two- and four-wheelers with lithium-ion batteries are in the pipeline. The company has an installed capacity of 10,000 chargers annually with an option to be scaled up. With the economy of scale, the company will reduce the charger's cost.

Motors and controllers next
Along with chargers, Ampere Vehicles is venturing into development and manufacturing of motors (350/500/800 watts) and controllers, which are the key components of an electric vehicle. These are also part of the Rs 10-crore project supported by the Technology Development Board.  "The (EV) industry hasn't been growing to the extent largely because of imported parts in India and the lack of indigenous development in the past. When we wanted to get the powertrain from within India, there were no suppliers," says Hemalatha.

A team of 30 engineers is driving the indigenous developments at Ampere. The company currently has around 130 people, of which 30 percent are women.

On the EV space, Ampere Vehicles will launch a new scooter "for the middle class segment" in June. The company's first vehicle (a scooter) with lithium-ion battery technology is scheduled to be launch in September. Ampere Vehicles plans to raise around Rs 40 crore before launching this product.

EV players in India have been struggling for long. With the government's plans to fast forward the growth of electric vehicles, companies like Ampere Vehicles can expect a much better ride in the coming years.