The electric vehicle (EV) market has been on the rise, with 2021 witnessing more than double EV sales. The Indian government, emerging EV startups, and established EV OEMs are leaving no stone unturned to make India an EV hub in this decade. However, several challenges, especially those related to EV charging pose a threat to the EV wave.
Arun Vinayak, Co-founder & CEO, of Exponent Energy, believes that India’s EV ecosystem cannot scale if we do not simplify energy for EVs.
He is leading the development of a Flexible Energy Stack (FES) that has unlocked 15-min rapid charging for EVs with any number of wheels. “The EV industry has successfully marked the 0-1 shift over the last few years as EVs now drives better and perform better than ICE-powered vehicles in every way. However, the 1 to 100 scale for the EV industry is shackled by how slow, complicated & expensive energy is, “ said Arun.
Arun has nearly a decade of experience in the Indian EV space. He spent 7+ years at Ather Energy as its Founding Partner and Chief Product Officer and led the team that built India’s first vertically integrated electric 2W ecosystem.
This gave him a first-hand experience of the challenges EVs in India face today. In 2020, he moved on from Ather and laid down the foundation of Exponent Energy with his former colleague Sanjay Byalal.
The inception of Exponent Energy comes at a time when India is actively looking to switch to EVs. However, 4-8 hrs EV charging time today is one of the biggest obstacles in the EV ecosystem. This has resulted in a range of anxiety issues and further dampened EV adoption in India.
0-100% Charge In 15 Minutes? Exponent Energy
To solve this and more, Exponent recently unveiled their battery pack & charging station called the E-pack & E-pump that together unlocks a 15-minute rapid charge and gives a 3000 cycle life warranty (a new industry standard) — all done on a range of affordable Li-ion cells. This is made possible by their proprietary BMS and charging algorithms, layered on top of their unique E-pack design.
Exponent’s E-pump is inherently cross-compatible. That means, it is designed as a dual connector model that has an Exponent connector capable of 15-min rapid charging and the second connector that supports standard vehicles having CCS2. So, a single E-pump can charge a high volume of vehicles, without needing a large footprint or space to operate in, he explained.
Initially, Exponent plans to support commercial vehicles whose applications range from intra-city, last-mile logistics through to inter-city operations. High-power E-pumps will be deployed in an organic, profitable manner across a wide network, through the predictable revenue of logistics operations.
“Commercial vehicles play a pivotal role in India’s transition to an all-electric future. They consume 70% of on-road energy and don’t have a system of dedicated parking which eliminates the concept of slow, overnight charging. Therefore, energy will need to be delivered through a public rapid charging infrastructure that will become the foundation for the EV industry to achieve scale,” Arun told E-Vehicle info.
Exponent recently closed a pre-series A round of $5 Million that saw existing investors double down on their earlier investment and the participation of Motherson Group, a leading global supplier of automotive components.
The company caters to vehicle manufacturers, fleet operators in the logistics space, and commercial real estate owners who wish to become charging station partners.
