Ather opens its proprietary fast-charging connector to rival electric scooters

New Delhi, August 10: In a bid to promote quicker EV adoption in India, homegrown electric vehicles maker Ather Energy announced that it has opened the firms' fast charging connector patents to other industry players.

This will pave the way for an interoperable two-wheeler fast charging platform in the country, it said. Further, the EV maker also announced that it would also help the firms with engineering integration and support for the industry at no cost.

 

"Today we are opening up the charging connector patents at Ather Energy. Any OEM can use them in their vehicles and chargers for free Ather will also help with engg integration and support for the industry, at no cost Killing proprietary standards - may a million chargers bloom!" Mehta said in a tweet.

 

Ather believes that robust charging infrastructure is one of the major drivers in accelerating the faster adoption of electric two-wheelers. To maximise the usage and efficiency of charging infrastructure, there need to be common connectors that can be used across products.

 

 

Currently, Indian electric 2-wheeler makers including Hero Electric, Bajan Auto, Ather, and TVS Motors all use different charging pins as there is no common standard for electric chargers in the country. Thus, a charger of one make cannot be used to charge a vehicle of another company.

 

The move would also help in reducing range anxiety by allowing all scooters to access Ather Energy's over 200 fast chargers. This would also allow more OEMs to build products on a common standard thus lowering infrastructure investments.

 

Ather says that its proprietary fast-charging connector has a combo AC and DC charging. "This 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," the company informs Finally, it is designed for production at low costs, which allows it to be used in mass segment vehicles.

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