To accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, two things need to happen. The first would obviously be the release of accessible and reliable electric vehicles—something that’s been happening at a blistering pace in Asia and in Europe. Alongside this, the development of infrastructure designed specifically to cater to growing EV use must also be rolled out.
It can be argued that the number of electric vehicles is growing at a much faster rate than that of fast-charging infrastructure. This is especially true in Asia, particularly in India. That said, it won’t be long until the lack of charging facilities presents itself as a real problem, especially for electric motorbikes and cars that don’t have removable batteries. This is because users of these vehicles, particularly those living in high-rise condominiums or apartments, might not have the luxury of space to install their own fast chargers.
Luckily, a number of players in the Indian EV space have solid goals set for their vehicles, as well as the charging infrastructure that accompanies them. Companies like Ola Electric and it’s HyperCharger network are starting to address this issue, and so is Ather Energy, another premium player in the rapidly growing electric two-wheeler scene in India. In fact, the company recently announced that it’s seriously picking up the pace with its fast charging stations as part of what it’s calling the Ather Grid.
More specifically, Ather Energy has installed its 580th public fast charging station, of which the total are spread across 56 cities in India. Additionally, the business plans to continue expanding its reach by adding 820 additional charging stations by the end of 2022, bringing the total to 1,400. Incidentally, Hero MotoCorp’s newest e-scooter, the Vida V1 is compatible with Ather’s fast-charging tech. It remains to be seen, however, if Ather will grant free access to V1 users in the long term.
What we do know, however, is that electric two and four wheelers compatible with the Ather chargers can use them for free until the end of 2022. Of course, Ather 450X owners will have the added convenience of locating fast-charging stations via the Ather Grid smartphone app. Last but not least, the chargers can top up EV batteries at a rate of 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) every minute, up to an 80-percent charge.
