'Our product is key to a decentralised energy future'

ZipCharge claims that its innovative offering, Go, will be the world's first portable charger for electric vehicles. Nilesh Wadhwa reports on the startup's global plans and the key role that India may play.

- Nilesh Wadhwa

London-based startup, ZipCharge, founded a year ago is working on a solution for EV charging that it says could provide a boost to EV adoption not only in the West but even for a country like India, where electric cars are still seen as a niche segment. The brainchild of Richie Sibal and Jonathan Carrier, ZipCharge is developing what it says will be the world's first smart portable charger-christened 'Go'.

In an exclusive interaction with Autocar Professional, Carrier shares the journey of the startup so far. "We have gathered a lot of very useful experience over the last 12 months right from the technical challenges that have to be addressed to manufacture a product like the Go portable charger to finding out how to get it up and running in various operating conditions. We are engineering the charger to enable it to function from (minus)10 degrees to (+)60 degrees Celsius safely and reliably. No matter where you are in the world, somebody will use it."

During their initial research, ZipCharge found that around 40-50 percent of customers are not in position to install a home charger for EVs. Then there is another category of EV users who have a home charger but see advantages in having a flexible charging option alongside their fixed one. In addition, the Go portable charger is being designed to use solar power and to power a user's home as well. "Actually, it's a portable energy storage device that has a multitude of use cases, not just for charging electric vehicles," explains Carrier.

The portable charger comes with a range of smart features such as geo-fencing, smart lock, remote disable and physical lock thus making it impossible to be stolen.

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