In a major to drive fast adoption of electric mobility, Ather Energy has pulled a Tesla, opening its proprietary fast-charging connector design for other two-wheeler makers. The move, Ather says, aims to pave the way to standardise the connector in electric two-wheelers, which will further help in creating a standardised charging infrastructure. Moreover, the Bengaluru-based start-up will open charging access to its 200+ fast chargers across the country for other electric two-wheelers.
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Speaking to carandbike about the decision to make the IPs public, Tarun Mehta, Ather Energy, co-founder and CEO said, that proprietary technology was doing more harm than good to the larger electric vehicle ecosystem. It made it difficult to set up public charging stations that cater to all brands, and there was a need to establish common charging stations. This, in turn, will slow down the EV industry.
The common connector will make Ather's 200+ charging stations open to other electric two-wheelers for use
The announcement comes at a time when the state and central governments are going all out to offer incentives and subsidies to develop the EV ecosystem, and also reduce the delta between an electric vehicle and its ICE counterpart.
As part of the announcement, Ather does not plan to have any commercial consideration, licensing fee or royalty that other OEMs need to pay to the company for using its connector IP. In fact, Mehta insists that Ather will support integrating its connector in other OEM designs.
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Learning from Tesla's IPs going public a few years ago, Tarun Mehta said that while Tesla made its designs open to everyone, the learning curve from the IP to creating the production version is enormous. Ather aims to reduce that learning curve as part of its efforts to standardise the connector tech.
Mehta says that other OEMs get access to a stable design that's been tried and tested, while also developed for production at low costs, which allows it to be used in mass-market offerings. It also opens room to Ather customers charging their vehicles are public charging stations given a common connector design.
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Ather aims to drive up the adoption of electric two-wheelers with standardised charging tech
Ather's connector has a combo of AC and DC charging with the same connector. The connector size has been designed to be suitable for integration into two-wheelers and three-wheelers with the ability of CAN 2.0 communication with control and proximity pilot.
While electric cars have a standardised connector that oscillates between CHADEMO and CCS, there is no standardised connector for two-wheelers, barring the scooters sold in China. Ather says that the connector requirements of a scooter are different from those of an electric car, and the current connectors are heavier than required. Ather's propriety connector design allows for slow and fast charging using the same connector. It's also designed to meet the Indian road environment, temperature, moisture and more.
Also Read: Inside Ather Energy's Manufacturing Facility: 1 Scooter Built Every 4 Minutes
Ather says its already in talks with other players to adopt its connector design | Image used only for representation
Mehta says that Ather is already in talks with a couple of OEMs to take this industry collaboration forward. The start-up also considered creating a consortium of sorts in a bid to establish the new connector standards but eventually decided to release the IPs to all players instead. The Ather co-founder believes that the move will lead to a three-fold increase in volumes, something all players in the sector will benefit from. Not just manufacturers, the company is open to sharing its proprietary tech with component makers that develop charging solutions.
