Class 12 student forced to sprint behind bus on Board exam day after it skips stop in Tirupattur village; TNSTC driver suspended

While the world was gushing over the new innovation—5-minute charging for electric vehicles (EVs)—by China's BYD last week, a Bengaluru-based Indian firm went about demonstrating that they too have developed indigenous rapid charging technology for electric buses.

Exponent Energy, an Indian EV charging and energy firm, launched its 1 megawatt (MW) native charging tech for e-buses on 19 March, a day following the launch of BYD's Super e-Platform, which has the capability to charge electric cars at a speed of 1MW. Whereas BYD's model enables their new line of electric vehicles to be charged to their full capacity within 5 minutes, a "game-changer" in the technology of electric vehicles, Exponent is not far behind. 

Its fresh 1MW technology enables it to charge e-buses with its batteries within 15 minutes, the firm stated in an advertisement shared to their social media on 19 March. "As a country, we must have confidence that we can develop and own all levels of EV tech. We have traditionally been followers in ICE. We cannot do that in EVs," explained Arun Vinayak, co-founder of Exponent in a media statement on 21 March.

1MW charging equipment implies that the battery and charger can both deliver a peak 1,000 kilowatt (kW) of power, a huge increase from the current peak of 400-500 kW. These limitations are due to the fact that fast charging is energy-intensive and heat-intensive, hence limiting the amount of power an EV can draw at any given time.

But with BYD's new tech, experts are saying that charging EVs is now "on par with filling up a car." Exponent Energy, too, has pledged to roll out its 1.5 MW charging tech within the next couple of months.

BYD and Exponent—how did they do 1MW?

Whereas BYD, which produces electric cars, is not entirely an energy company, Exponent is a single industry energy company. They produce all of the charging infrastructure from battery packs to charging pumps and cables. That's one reason why there is a disparity in how two companies have managed to build 1MW charging.

The largest issue with this type of fast charging is that it creates an inordinate amount of heat in the process.

For BYD, the heat management system is integrated throughout the whole EV ecosystem because they produce everything from the cells and batteries to the EVs themselves. The whole production line, including the motors that are installed in the EVs, has been redesigned to include the cooling systems required in order to gain fast charging capabilities without adding weight to the car too much.

Conversely, Exponent Energy, which doesn't manufacture battery cells or build its own EVs, has put all its technology inside the battery pack and the charger, with the cooling infrastructure being housed inside the charging pump.

But what this does imply is that only EVs equipped with an Exponent battery pack charged at its charging pump are eligible for rapid charging.

Additionally, Exponent Energy's proprietary battery packs are installed in electric three-wheelers and buses only in association with vehicle manufacturers, and they have even installed more than 100 charging stations spread across the nation. They have no plans to enter 4-wheelers territory in the near future.

BYD, meanwhile, has designed proprietary silicon carbide power chips that will be deployed in its upcoming EVs, thereby making 1MW charging ubiquitous across its portfolio.

But CEO Vinayak doesn't regard that Exponent Energy does not make cell or cell infrastructure as a negative point.

"BYD has great cell science ability which is why they can innovate with cells and achieve 1MW charging. But we have been able to achieve that using ordinary LFP cells, which makes our products affordable," Vinayak said in a statement to the press.

Currently however, BYD has the same problem as Exponent, to expand charging stations. It is going to install 3,000-4,000 charging stations in China to support their new vehicles that are capable of supporting 1MW charging in the new vehicles.

Exponent is also busy adding its charging points along the Bengaluru-Hyderabad highway, where it will launch its first 1MW charging electric bus commercially within the next 6 months.