Gulf Oil India enters EV charging market

Gulf Oil Lubricants India, part of the Hinduja Group, has entered into an agreement with Gulf Oil International (GOI) to participate and co-invest in government of India’s recent investment along with the Clean Growth Fund (CGF) in Indra Renewable Technologies, a UK-based Electric Vehicle (EV) and smart energy technology company developing innovative charging and energy storage solutions for home and commercial use.

With this investment, Gulf India will get access to an established technology in EV charging space to adopt the same for Indian conditions and leverage its wide distribution and brand strengths to extend Gulf-branded residential and commercial charging points as per the evolving needs of Indian consumers.

Gulf India will become a shareholder with the government of India and CGF in Indra, alongside OVO Group, which had provided seed capital and technical support to Indra via Kaluza, its technology business.

According to Ravi Chawla, MD and CEO – Gulf Oil Lubricants India, “With the evolving EV space in India, where charging options will become an important decision criterion, we are excited about this association. As we continue to evolve our strategy in this space, we will look at opportunities where we can leverage and synergise the Indra technology with our brand, distribution, OEM/ Infra-B2B customer relationships in India, to cater for the future market and consumer requirements in this space”.

The charging station market, as per estimates, is expected to have a good potential in coming years, wherein around 50-60% is expected to be in residential charging solutions which is where Indra is positioned to play.

The prime focus for Gulf India would be the passenger car and light commercial vehicle residential charging segment with Indra's Smart Chargers while it evaluates opportunities in the two-wheeler segment. The market is also expected to disrupt with new technologies such as V2G (Vehicle to Grid) chargers which are already developed by Indra and could support the power requirements of individual homes as a backup and also offer huge opportunities to form partnerships with potential microgrid solution providers in the future. Indra's home grown R&D and technology and OEM approvals will be critical success factors in this endeavour.

The Indra Smart Pro charger
Indra Renewable Technologies claims the Smart Pro is the smartest AC electric vehicle charger available on the market. Fully-featured, the Smart Pro will ensure the EV charges at the optimum time, and is available when needed it to be.

The British-built Indra Smart Pro charger features a simple on-unit interface and a supporting Mobile App that provides current status and historical information, as well as enabling easy configuration of the unit.

The Smart Pro is fully compliant with all relevant standards and works with all EVs, those available today and those coming in the future. It is quick and easy to install.

Images: Indra Renewable Technologies / Twitter