Ather Energy puts Public Charging-Infrastructure before its Electric-Scooter
Ather Energy has launched Ather Grid, its charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs), a few weeks shy of the official launch of its long-awaited electric scooter — the S340.
Ather Grid will address range anxiety — the fear that an electric vehicle will run out of power before it reaches a charging point — before the launch of its S340 which has a range of 60km on a single charge. Range anxiety, a term that entered the Oxford English dictionary in 2013, is a priority concern for electric vehicle manufacturers who are looking at scaling fast by improving EV ownership experience and increasing adoption.
The company has begun installations of the Point — intelligent and connected charging station — across the city of Bangalore. 30 charging points will be set up by the end of May 2018. By the end of the year, 60 charging points will be available in Bangalore. With this, there will be a charging station within 4 km driving distance from any point in the city.
“Before we launch in any city we will have Ather Grid pop up at least a quarter before,” said Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, Ather Energy. The company plans to launch in Chennai by the end of this year, followed by Pune. “As we prepare ourselves for the launch of the Ather S340, Bangalore was a natural choice to be the home city for AtherGrid. Range anxiety and the inconvenience associated with charging will not be a deterrent to adoption, as the industry grows,” he added.
Ather’s Chief Business Officer, Ravneet Singh Phokela, said that the system complies with ARAI’s AIS 138, though it is still in draft phase. Automotive Research Association of India’s Automotive Industry Standard 138 focuses on conductive charging systems for electric vehicles.
“Point”
Ather’s Points have been designed and manufactured in India, to suit the domestic power grid. The system is capable of both AC charging and DC fast charging (2.5kW). “The system had to be designed from scratch. One of the key features in its architecture is splitting power delivery and power generation,” said Swapnil Jain, co-founder and CTO, Ather Energy.
Safety features ensure that electricity is drawn only when connected to a vehicle and protects vehicles from overcharging with auto power cut off. It will be able to charge the S340 from zero to eighty percent in 50 minutes.
The Point provides protection from under-voltage, over-voltage and over-current. The IP55 pod and IP54 distribution box features a UV resistant and weatherproof enclosure.
Each point will be connected to the cloud through GSM or ethernet connectivity. It also has features like authenticated power transfer (electricity drawn only when connected to the vehicle), auto-power cut-off and temperature-sensing for optimised charging.
Information about availability and status of the point is accessable via a mobile app as well as the seven inch interactive dashboard on the S340. Consumers can find the nearest Point available and navigate to the charging location using the app.
The Ather Grid App is currently available on Apple’s Appstore as well as Google’s Playstore. It can be downloaded and used by EV-users who are looking for a Point to recharge their vehicle. It enables remote monitoring of the charge status and has integrated payment options.
The company is offering the charging service free of cost to all EV-owners for the first six months post-launch. Owners of Ather’s yet-to-be-launched S340 will have complimentary access to the charging infrastructure for a year.
Ather Grid comes in the wake of changes to India’s Electricity Act, 2003 which makes it illegal for an individual or private-institution to sell electricity without a discom-license to distribute power from the state electricity regulatory commission.
EV charging stations don’t need separate license under Electricity Act: Power Ministry — Business Line [April 16, 2018]
The S340, with a top speed of 72 kmph and a range of up to 60 km, is equipped with a 7” interactive dashboard and an integrated app that allows onboard navigation, remote diagnostics and over the air updates for future improvements. The ‘S340’ stands for ‘scooter,’ ‘3kW electric motor,’ and ’40 amp-hour battery pack.’
Timing
The launch comes at a time when fuel prices have reached an all-time high owing to rising crude prices and a depreciating rupee.
Why petrol price has hit a record high — Times of India [May 21st, 2018]
The points will be installed at malls, cafes, restaurants, tech parks, multiplexes and gyms, to cater to both, four wheelers and two wheelers. For this, Ather has partnered with host locations, who have installed Points pro-bono at their premises to offer a convenient experience for all EV owners in the city.
Ather Energy is backed by the founders of Flipkart, Tiger Global and Hero Motocorp. Hero MotoCorp, India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, invested Rs 205 crore in Ather Energy for a 26–30% stake in 2016. A year before that US based Tiger Global invested $12 million in the company. In 2014 the company raised $1 million from Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.
Ather Energy was co-founded in 2013 by IIT graduates —tarun mehta and Swapnil Jain.
