PLUG WARS

THE LACK OF A COMMON STANDARD IN CHARGING PLUGS IN THE TWO-WHEELER SEGMENT COULD HIT INDIA'S AMBITIOUS TARGET OF INCREASING EV PENETRATION TO 30% BY 2030.

- By Karan Dhar

A WAR OF CHARGING PLUGS is brewing between two new-age companies in India's electric two-wheeler ecosystem. On one side is Ather Energy, the poster boy of electric scooters in India, and on the other is Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric. Each one has deployed vastly different connectors for fast charging.

Ather, which uses the Type 7 connector, has so far set up more than 3,000 chargers across the country. But co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta is wary. "There is a need for standardisation. One of the largest bottlenecks is access to easy charging at home. If every OEM (original equipment manufacturer) has a different standard, then residential buildings will only end up putting a power supply. Only a common standard will simplify this problem, and also that of public fast charging," Mehta says.

The Type 7 connector is a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)-approved fast-charging model with an open-source design that integrates both AC and DC charging functions. Meanwhile, Ola's Type 6 offers DC fast charging only. The company has set up 288 hyperchargers across the country.

Akshay Shekhar, co-founder and CEO of Kazam, an electric vehicle (EV) charger startup, seconds Mehta. "Without fast charging, electric two-wheeler adoption will hit a ceiling. If you want to have a breakthrough, we need to get the mass majority to adopt it."

Legacy automakers, who have yet to offer fast charging for EVs, are expected to adopt either of the two connectors when they roll out their future EVs with fast charging capabilities. Meanwhile, charge point operators (CPOs), Shekhar says, are currently placing orders for both Type 6 and Type 7 connectors. "It is going to be the market or technology adoption of this that will tell which charger is going to supersede the other."