It was a defining moment for Entrepreneur sameer Ranjan Jaiswal, when a couple of years back, a friend couldn’t find a charging point for his electric scooter and had to push it 40kms. Fearing this may happen again, he stopped using EVs. That’s when Sameer and his Co-Founders Dheeraj Reddy & Yugraj Shukla set-up FAE Bikes, an EV scooter rental and fleet management start-up in 2016. On 16 Nov. ‘21, Hero Electric, one of the oldest Automobile Manufactures in India and the first to start EVs in the country signed a treaty with FAE to set-up 1,00,000 charging units across the country, a third of which will come up in the next 12 months.
Kirana Charzer was launched in Feb. ‘20 at MOVE in London. Compatible with 2,3 & 4W EVs, it has zero maintenance and is IoT enabled. Since it works with single phase electricity, it can be easily installed at Kirana shops, neighbourhood stores and others.
At Hero, we believe that a robust and well-equipped infrastructure network is key to the development of EVs in India. This association will aid the EV growth and provide a seamless charging experience to customers by integrating charging slot booking and payment with chargers deployed by Charzer,” Hero Electric CEO Sohinder Gill noted. With vision and commitment to advance the growth of EVs, the company is working rigorously to scale up the charging infrastructure, he added.
Charzer co-founder Sameer Ranjan Jaiswal said the collaboration would help in the installation of the charging station and contribute to the electric mobility revolution. “It is (Hero) the oldest EV manufacturer in the country with a vision to drive positive and greener change. We are collectively building an extensive network of charging stations at Kirana stores, apartments, offices, and malls for easy accessibility. Our partnership with Hero Electric is a giant leap towards this goal, and with this partnership, we are excited to charge up the next million vehicles,” he added.
The company currently has a presence across 20 cities, including Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mangalore and Visakhapatnam. The tie-up with kirana shops could spill over to other semi- and organised retailers including Salons, Restaurants among others, thereby driving footfalls to these locations, and the customers can get their EVs charged even as they complete their quick shopping. Wishing “more power” to such start-ups in times to come.
