Based on Bangalore Exponential Energy could have devised a way to quickly charge an electric vehicle in 15 minutes. The startup just raised a $13 million Series A, relying on a combination of proprietary battery packs and charging infrastructure to achieve such a feat.
Exponent Energy’s business model is geared towards OEMs building commercial electric vehicles for fleet purposes. Ideally, the company works with the OEM to integrate their battery pack, or electronics pack, which can then be quickly charged through Exponent’s network of chargers or e^ pumps. Earlier this month, Exponent announced its first partnership with Altigreen, an Indian manufacturer of electric cargo vehicles, launching the Exponent-powered Altigreen neEV HD, a tricycle that both companies both use. suppose it can be fully charged, from 0% to 100%, in 15 minutes.
It’s worth noting that the battery only charges quickly when charged on Exponent’s charging infrastructure – if the battery is charged at a standard charging station, it will take about 60 minutes, according to the company. Likewise, the e^ pumps do not provide the same fast charge for all EVs, so the two must be scaled side by side. This is how Exponent hopes to monetize its energy services. It will earn revenue from both the sale of battery packs to OEMs and periodic charging, according to Arun Vinayak, co-founder and CEO of Exponent.
For comparison, Exponent’s business model is a bit similar model for GogoroThe Taiwanese company works with OEMs to integrate replaceable batteries into their electric two-wheelers, and builds swap stations around the country.
Aside from the monetization logic of including the battery pack and charging infrastructure as a package deal, Vinayak said doing so only makes sense from a technology perspective.
“Fast charging in 15 minutes is a two-pronged problem,” Vinayak said. “It is not only the battery but also the charger. The e^ pump delivers 600A to e^pack (15x industry standard) current while managing individual cell characteristics including thermoelectricity for safety, long battery life and consistent performance even at a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius. Since our technology is present on both sides, we can manage energy flow much more efficiently, safely and quickly.”
Building such a network will require capital, which is where Exponent’s Series A comes in. The Lightspeed-led round with participation from YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital and AdvantEdge VC, will be used to expand the e^pump network to Theo Vinayak. The company also aims to deploy 2,000 Exponent-enabled vehicles as part of its partnership with Altigreen.
Vinayak said the e^ package is scalable across multiple forms, and Exponent Energy is currently in the engineering phase for partnerships in other segments, especially three-wheeled passenger vehicles and four-wheeled cargo vehicles.
“Our primary focus is commercial vehicles, and our primary customer is anyone running a fleet, from a single vehicle owner to a total of 1000 vehicles,” Vinayak told TechCrunch via email. Vinayak told TechCrunch via email. “In India, commercial vehicles have the highest age of energy use per vehicle. (It accounts for 10% of vehicles, but consumes 70% of the energy on our roads). This represents a highly concentrated market for an energy company like us as the segment has been persuaded to switch to EVs as electric vehicles outperform their diesel counterparts. However, the bottleneck for adoption is power, as slow charging (3 to 6 hours) affects performance. As a result, customers are forced to opt for large batteries with short lifespans, which makes car ownership expensive.”
