Sona Comstar chairman Sunjay Kapur has invested as an angel investor an undisclosed amount through his family office to acquire a stake in Delhi-based EV charging operations start-up - Sunfuel Electric - which was founded in 2020 to set up EV charging infrastructure aimed at luxury EVs in the country.

Founded by Sudhir Nayak, Gul Panag, Mathew Koshy, and Rishabh Mehta, the start-up has partnered leading hospitality companies such as Radisson Hotels Group, IHG Hotels, ITC Welcomheritage, and Club Mahindra among others, to provide destination charging facility across luxury hotels and resorts at several locations in the country.

Sunfuel Electric claims that it is focused to ensure that charging infrastructure is visible even before mass-scale EV adoption takes place in India. According to Sudhir Nayak, CEO, Sunfuel Electric, “We want the Indian consumer to think of EVs as fun-to-drive cars with a go-anywhere capability. However, they will adopt only when they see seamless charging at their favourite destinations and pitstops; and we intend to do just that.”

According to Sunjay Kapur, “It is evidently clear that the preference of car buyers in India is shifting to EVs over the past few years due to their significantly lower total cost of ownership, which offsets the higher initial cost of an electric car compared to a conventionally-fuelled one. This investment is my personal endeavour towards creating world-class charging infrastructure for these cars in line with our larger vision to create a sustainable mobility future.”

While it has set up EV chargers at prominent hotels in the national capital region, Sunfuel India claims to be present in various locations across the country. Apart from hotels, the start-up is also targeting leading golf courses and clubs that have been made EV-friendly by Sunfuel Electric over the last few months.

SunFuel Electric is accelerating the adoption of electric cars by providing seamless charging experiences across the country. The company says that while there is no dearth of investments in the slow-charging network due to its low capital intake, it, however, leaves a void for high-end EVs sold in the country which require ultra-high-speed chargers. “With no charging operator currently catering to their requirements for ultra-high-speed charging, Sunfuel fills that gap, and it is well on its way to creating a world-class, high-speed charging network in the country. Our current focus is destination charging and we have established a leadership position in that category with our indigenously-designed charger Monolith – that comes replete with technology from Siemens,” Nayak added.