"EVs are... toys"
In the early 2000s, this was an unsaid thought running in a lot of minds because EVs were considered as a harbinger of hope and people begrudgingly accepted the trade-off — low range & sub-par performance. But like any technology, it took its time to be widely accepted and prove its worth in gold (or BTC 👀)
0-1 shift, done and dusted.
Over the past few years, EVs have become exceptional: better torque, negligible vibration, and a superior drive experience. This inflection point was a culmination of various stakeholders coming together: engineering brilliance, product validation, streamlined supply chains, government support, and finally consumer acceptance.
Safe to say, the 0 to 1 shift is done.
Electric Drive trains are now superior to conventional drivetrains.
1-100 scale, WIP.
Why Energy?
Because the energy train is complicated, expensive and dreadfully slow
The EV Energy train in:
Stage 1
affordable and easy to generate.
Stage 3
is efficient (case in point: superior drive experience).
Stage 2
is shackled; needs simplification to achieve scale.
Electric Drive trains are now superior to conventional drivetrains.
1-100 scale, WIP.
Let’s break it down for the EV industry:
Today, the energy flow between the charger and battery is like a maze — communication between them is superficial since both of them are built in isolation.
This leads to dreadfully slow charge times of 4 to 8 hours and poor battery life (~20% battery degradation in 1000 charging cycles).
This causes a lot of systemic issues for all of the stakeholders:
Energy today is slow, expensive and broken due to the disrupted energy flow between chargers and batteries
1-100 scale is shackled by energy
Impact on the ecosystem
For CPOs
Charge Point Operators
Lower utilisation leads to poor profitability
For OEMs
Vehicle manufacturer
Forced to sell EVs with large batteries to compensate for long charge times
For end users
Logistic operators
Low flexibility due to long charging time.
High cost due to large batteries, poor battery life & financing options
To combat range anxiety and the lack of a dense charging network, vehicle manufacturers resort to installing larger and bulkier battery packs. This eventually leads to higher costs for both themselves & consumers.
Ultimately, leading to lower adoption rates — a vicious cycle, indeed.
Also, quick detour — rapid charging as a concept has existed for 13 years within the confines of ambitious laboratory experiments but have never been affordable and scalable. Cells like LTOs and supercapacitors provide this fast charging capability but are bulky and expensive rendering their usage impractical. But we'll reserve our thoughts on alternate cell chemistries for another time.
The Exponent approach
Our energy stack simplifies energy flow, leading to a 15-minute full charge and a 3000 cycle life warranty (a new industry standard) — all done on a range of affordable Li-ion cells. This allows us to leverage the existing manufacturing ecosystem that produces LFP and NMC cells extensively to scale faster.
The Domino effect
Apart from rapid charging’s obvious benefit of freedom and flexibility that allows consumers to recharge like they refuel — there’s a deeper impact that allows everyone to win and scale exponentially.
Domino 1: Rapid charging = Affordable charging
Less charge time = higher charging station utilization = lower cost per unit of charging = happy consumer 😃
Domino 2: Less charge time = High network profitability
Less charge time = higher charging station utilization = more business for charging partners = more ka-ching! 💸
Domino 3: Small battery packs = Higher affordability
Exponent-enabled rapid charging eliminates the need for unnecessarily large battery packs because we rapidly charge them from 0-100% in just 15 minutes 🚀
Domino 4: 3000 cycle life warranty = Better financing
The common myth of rapid charging degrading your battery life quicker is busted, thanks to our Flexible Energy Stack.
An extended battery life + 3000 cycle life warranty = longer financing tenures & lower interest rates. This enables users to own EVs without burning a huge hole in their pockets during their EMI period.
The dominos will fall, it's now a question of when and not if.