How Does The New Indian EV Charging Standard Affect EV Makers?

Unlike electric four-wheelers, electric two-wheelers makers haven’t managed to agree on having a common charging tech or system in place for easy mass adoption. Nearly every manufacturer has had its own say on how it should be, and gone about creating its own tech and algorithm.

The Indian government has recognised this as a possible area of simplification. And given Ather’s open source charging tech that has been tried and tested for years without any issues, the Bureau of Indian Standards has recognised it as an optional standard for two- and three-wheeler charging connector tech.

But just because it has become a standard, does it mean it will be adopted by everyone?

The Competitors

Currently, Ola Electric, TVS, Bajaj and Hero are the other big name players in India’s 2W EV space. Tork has been steadily growing and Ultraviolette is a very niche player. Of the former ones, only Hero has adopted Ather’s technology, no prizes for guessing why because it has invested in it.

The others, like mentioned earlier, went about creating/adopting their own standards of what suited their products best. And only Ola also offers fast charging capabilities like Ather.

For any one of them to now adopt the new BIS standard EV charger connector for existing products would incur a lot of monetary investment as well as design changes that might not be easy to incorporate quickly. Plus, understanding how the connector and the BMS interact would be key. In the future, maybe they can consider moving systems. However, that might not be for any of the products in the immediate pipeline.

We have reached out to Ola, TVS and Bajaj for their official takes for the same and are yet to receive the same from all.

Hypothetically, let us assume that everyone starts adopting the connector standard, then what?

Positive News For The Customer

Firstly, the need to carry a charger always would be eliminated to a great extent. You would be able to easily find a charger in your vicinity or borrow your friend’s one in case the need arises. Plus, with the fast charging stations all adopting the same connector port, it would be easier for a quick boost top up as well.

With Ather’s extensive fast charging network, and others like Ola and Tork who are also setting up the same, delivering the same experience, finding an outlet specifically for your two-wheeler will not be a bother.

Plus, even setting up public charging stations would be a more feasible option. Ather’s tech has proved it to be safe and pretty cost effective. So, just like it is with cars and SUVs, you can take it to any electric charging station and charge it, provided you pay the fees of the service provider. But unlike four wheelers that are capable of drawing high current, two-wheelers will not require such heavy and massive set ups.

But this isn’t going to be feasible.

Honest Reality

We hope that at least the battery swapping technology will be more synchronised in the Indian market in the furure. The Japanese big four (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki) have come together to develop a common swappable battery standard for their local market. Even KTM, Honda, Yamaha and Piaggio have done the same for the EU. Heck, even auto industry giants like Ford and General Motors took notice of Tesla’s charging tech and incorporated the same into their EVs. So, why should Indian companies shy away from doing something similar?

We hope to hear from the likes of Ola, TVS and Bajaj soon and get to know what they feel is the best step forward for Indian EV mobility and their respective brands.