German electric vehicle (EV) interoperability specialist Hubject has joined forces with Exicom, India’s largest EV charger manufacturer, in a strategic partnership aimed at revolutionizing the EV charging landscape in India.
The collaboration, leveraging Hubject’s cutting-edge interoperability technology, seeks to address the challenges faced by EV drivers in India, particularly with the burgeoning adoption of electric cars and larger vehicles. Despite the prevalence of two and three-wheelers, which can be easily charged with conventional power sockets, the rapid growth of electric cars has been hindered by a lack of accessible charging options.
Hubject’s ‘intercharge’ platform is expected to simplify the process of locating available charging points, offering automatic EV-to-charging station authentication without the need for a dedicated app or RFID card.
Following the announcement of the partnership, shares of Exicom Tele Systems surged by 9.7 per cent on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).
Christian Hahn, CEO of Hubject, remarked, “The EV market in India is experiencing explosive growth. Last year, sales nearly doubled, and this year, they are expected to rise by 66%.” He emphasized that the partnership with Exicom and the introduction of Hubject’s intercharge platform aim to support this growth by enhancing the charging experience for EV drivers.
For Indian consumers, the partnership promises greater convenience initially. Anant Nahata, CEO of Exicom, explained, “The establishment of a central interoperability hub will further streamline payment settlements and reduce dependence on multiple wallets, ensuring a smoother experience for EV users nationwide.”
Hubject’s Plug&Charge technology is expected to offer additional benefits as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology becomes more widespread. Hahn added, “This partnership is good news for Hubject, Exicom, and EV drivers in India, and it’s also a big step forward in our strategic aim of having Plug&Charge everywhere.”
Hubject’s Plug&Charge solutions facilitate interoperability between any electric vehicle and local charging stations, enabling secure vehicle and station authentication. Moreover, Plug&Charge supports V2G capabilities for grid balancing between vehicle batteries, stations, and utilities. V2G capabilities are becoming a commercial reality, allowing electric vehicle batteries to stabilize the grid and enabling drivers to charge when grid loads are lowest.
Hubject’s solution is based on the ISO 15118-2 and ISO15118-20 standards, which require a unique V2G Root Public Key Infrastructure per world region. Last year, Hubject introduced a new V2G Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for the Asian market, covering a vast region from Turkey to Japan, including China and India.
