Fae Bikes launched ‘Kirana Charzer,’ a low cost, IoT powered EV charging station
Electric vehicles (EVs) are presumably the future of mobility. But, for any real disruption to occur, a widespread, affordable and accessible EV charging ecosystem is a must. All EVs, be it two-wheelers, three-wheelers or four-wheelers have their own respective range- the distance the vehicle can cover on a single charge. At the expiration of this distance (range) the EV needs to be charged again. Due to this factor, electric vehicle stakeholders will have to combat a phenomenon called range-anxiety- which is an EV owners’ fear of running out of battery charge before reaching the nearest charging station. Many startups and technologists are racking their minds to solve this issue. The Indian government has also put out a directive through its FAME India 2 (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (& Hybrid) vehicles) policy, whereby a roadmap to establish charging stations at every three kilometre juncture in cities and every 25 kilometers on highways is on the agenda.
Keeping in line with this need, a Bengaluru based logistics startup, Fae Bikes, is making strides in the EV public charging station universe. Just recently, Fae Bikes launched ‘Kirana Charzer,’ a low cost, IoT (internet of things) powered EV charging station. This low cost, efficient public charging station (PCS) can be used to charge an electric two-wheeler, three-wheeler and four-wheeler. The company is establishing India’s largest network of PCS for EVs in India. Vakrangee and PluginIndia are few other entities that are launching a network of charging stations in the country. Apart from this, big players like ABB, Acme Industries, Fortrum India, and a few Dutch companies are considering setting up EV charging stations in India. PSUs (public sector units) like NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), GAIL India, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Power Grid (PGCIL) are also contemplating venturing into the EV charging infrastructure business in the country.
The charging technology launched by Fae Bikes, Kirana Charzer, is priced at just Rs.10,000 with the intention of allowing small businesses and retail outlets adopt this technology as a secondary source of income. What’s more, the entity that installs this charging unit can reap 100% revenue from operations of the EV charging system.
Sameer Ranjan Jaiswal, one of the founders of Fae Bikes, launched the product at MOVE 2020 held on 11 and 12 February this year, in London. Kirana Charzer is compact and a close to no maintenance product. By downloading the Charzer app, the user gets access to a vast array of EV charging stations across India. The charging unit is safe and secure and in compliance with all basic standardization protocols. The Kirana Charzer comes with an inbuilt smart meter, and energy consumption can be tracked through the app by the entity hosting the device.
With air pollution reaching an all-time high, and most governments across the world gravitating towards clean mobility adoption across transport segments, electric vehicles seem to be the way forward. However, EVs cannot become mainstream unless a strong network of charging stations becomes functional and widespread across the nation. Fae Bikes plans to install one lakh charging stations this year, an ambitious proposition considering the current state of events (COVID19). The company has already received orders for 470 units of charging stations so far. Fae Bikes is collaborating with Hero Electric and Jitendra EV Tech, and is providing free subscription for users of the Charzer app for the first 60 days.
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