Ather’s proprietary charging connector, is now free for all – It is being offered to all OEMs to drive faster adoption of EVs
Ather Energy electric scooters – 450 Plus and 450X have set benchmarks in the Indian electric two wheeler segment. The company has been noting outstanding success. To put sales into better perspective, the company celebrated sales with a record Rs 10 crore worth electric scooters sold in July 2021 through Ather Energy Indiranagar experience center in Bengaluru. For the same month, sales at the said outlet touched around 600 units in the past month.
As per FADA, retail sales of Ather electric scooter for July 2021 stands at 1,799 units. This is a huge jump from 144 units sold in the same month last year. Thats a staggering 1,149% jump in sales. Considering the overwhelming demand, Ather Energy had expanded its experience centers 13 cities across India. Since its inception, Ather Energy has also invested in setting up fast-charging network, Ather Grid which have been instrumental in offering normal speed charge options to all electric two and four wheelers free of cost.
Proprietary Charging Connector
Ather Energy has now announced that the company will offer Proprietary Charging Connectors to other OEMs so that all electric two wheelers have an inter-operable charging platform across the country. This would reduce range anxiety as all scooters would have access to Ather Energy’s 200+ fast charging stations. It would also allow OEMs to build products on this common standard thus reducing investments in infrastructure in setting up individual charging platforms which may only be for EVs from its own brand.
Ather Energy states that this proprietary fast-charging connector supports both AC and DC charging. Its connector size is suitable for all two and three wheelers. It comes with CAN 2.0 communication as well as control and proximity pilot, thus allowing all electric vehicle owners to access any fast charging network across the country.
This common charger has been designed for production at low cost and can be used for mass segment vehicles. It would be on the same lines as CHADEMO, CCS, etc, which are global charging standards for electric four wheelers, except in China.
Ather Charging Connector Tech For Free
The adoption of common fast-charging connector for all electric vehicles has benefit for the EV community at large. Ather is not charging OEMs any sort of fees or royalties. These come for free.
Ather is simply opening up its technology and public fast charging networks so as to enhance the EV appeal to buyers in the country. The company will also be setting up a dedicated support team to work with OERMs for integration and is in talks with several electric vehicle makers to adopt this technology.
Electric vehicles in India have received a great push with new FAME II policies and state governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Meghalaya and Karnataka offering added subsidies on electric vehicles. As on date, electric vehicles comprise barely of 1.3 percent of total vehicles in the country. Rising fuel priced along with these central and state government subsidies will go a long way in boosting demand in this sector while having a common charging platform will also aid in its quick adoption.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
