Indian start-up develops 15-minute rapid charger for EVs

In the race for vehicle electrification, speedy EV charging is billed to be the game-changer when it comes to enabling the transition of ICE motorists to EVs. In the past fortnight or so, at least two global majors – ABB  and Mahle Powertrain – have announced speedy EV charging. While ABB claims it has developed the world’s fastest electric car charger (100km range in 3 minutes), Mahle's new battery concept is designed for sustainable and designed for ultrafast charging. Now, there is an Indian start-up in the fray for extremely fast EV charging.

The Bangalore-based Exponent Energy, an energy solutions start-up, has announced development of battery pack and charging station called E-pack and E-pump respectively. Using the solution together will enable a zero to 100% rapid charge within 15 minutes for commercial vehicles with any number of wheels, all while using affordable lithium-ion cells and delivering a 3,000 cycle life warranty. The company says it will introduce the rapid charging solution in January 2022.

The company, founded by Arun Vinayak, founding partner and ex-CPO of Ather Energy, envisions building a flexible energy stack to enable a seamless flow of energy and information between the grid and vehicle to unlock a bunch of products. Sanjay Byalal, his colleague at Ather Energy and a former HUL supply chain and operations manager, has joined Vinayak, as a co-founder to drive Exponent Energy’s larger vision for the EV industry.

According to Vinayak, “The 0 to 1 shift where EVs drive better than ICE vehicles has happened. However, the 1 to 100 scale is shackled by how complex and disrupted energy flow is for EVs today – specifically between chargers and batteries leading to terrible charge times and battery life. The Indian EV space has massive potential ($206 billion cumulatively by 2030). But to get there, we need to simplify energy for EVs by solving crucial deep tech problems. A rapid charging solution agnostic of battery capacity, cell chemistry and the number of wheels on a vehicle is the first of many innovations that will unlock exponential scale for everyone”.

Byalal adds,  “In India, commercial vehicles today roughly represent 10% of total vehicles sold in the country yet consume 70% of on-road energy. It’s an energy-hungry segment rushing to go electric and needs a dependable rapid charging network that lets them keep going. To fulfill this demand, we intend to actively collaborate with all industry players and regulatory bodies.”

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