E-bike manufacturing start-up Ather Energy has secured a patent for a compact, light-weight and ergonomic charging connector to be used for recharging small electric two-wheelers. Ather Energy is emerging as a prominent player in the fledgling electric two-wheeler manufacturing space, backed by Hero Motocorp, Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and Tiger Global. The Bengaluru-based company has already rolled out two variants of e-bikes.
The company in a patent document explained that at present, commonly used charging connectors are big, bulky, and are designed for large vehicles such as car, bus and truck. The new invention aims to solve the problems associated with the size and weight of the charging connectors. “Therefore, in light of the aforementioned drawbacks and the other inherent in the existing arts, there is a need for a compact, ergonomic, and light-weight charging connectors,” the company submitted before the patent office, seeking patent for its invention.
As electric vehicles are increasing all around the world, the problems associated with the use and maintenance of such vehicles are also increasing. Electric vehicles are powered using batteries and need to be recharged after the consumption of the charge stored in the batteries.
Currently, most of the devices are required to be taken to a charging station for recharging. The existing charging stations have a lot of shortcomings associated with themselves such as shortage of power supply, non-standardised charging connector and size and weight of charging connector, among others. Ather submitted that big and bulky charging connectors become less useful for small electric vehicles and also lack in ergonomics aspect.
According to the patent document, the charging connector will have a charging socket mounted on a handheld unit, which will have an angular grip for ease of use. It will also have provisions to charge the electric vehicle or a storage unit and communicate data such as the proximity data, weather data, battery data, vehicle data, user data, location data, temperature, among others between the power source and the device. The application was filed in June, 2017.
“The invention aims at solving the problem with the size and weight of the charging connectors,” it said, adding that in order to address the drawbacks, the need is for a compact, ergonomic, and light-weight charging connectors. Ather Energy has been developing AtherGrid, a charging network which has presence in Bengaluru and Chennai, and is in expansion mode. AtherGrid, present in over 30 locations in Bengaluru and 10 in Chennai, is aimed at offering fast, reliable and safe charging for all electric vehicles, not just the Ather vehicles.
Like Chennai and Bengaluru, Ather will equip other key markets with multiple fast charging Ather Grid points and Ather experience centres, prior to the deliveries planned in Q3 of 2020. Ather Grid will be available in locations like malls, cafes, supermarkets and tech parks.
