EVJoints is enhancing the EV charging ecosystem by integrating various networks into a single, user-friendly app. In this exclusive interview, the founder of EVJoints, Charles Nadar, discusses the challenges faced by EV owners, the innovative solutions being developed, and ambitious plans for the future.
What inspired you to start EVJoints and enter the EV sector?
While working as Head of Marketing at Motilal Oswal Financial Services in early 2021, I came across a YouTube video where a vlogger demonstrated how to use an EV charging station to charge an electric car. He mentioned the need to install the specific network’s app to operate the station, unlike petrol pumps, which intrigued me. This led me to explore further into the EV charging ecosystem, not just in India but also in the USA, China, and Europe. I realized the need for an aggregator to bring both EV drivers and station owners onto a common platform, creating a win-win proposition and accelerating EV adoption.
EVs are undoubtedly the future. Norway has achieved an 80% penetration rate, while India has just started, with only a 6% penetration. The Economic Survey 2023 predicts a 49% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for India’s domestic electric vehicle market between 2022 and 2030, with 10 million annual sales by 2030. The Indian government aims to achieve 30% electrification of the country’s vehicle fleet by 2030.
The promising future of EVs and the complex charging ecosystem encouraged me to embark on this journey and contribute to accelerating EV adoption in India.
Could you elaborate on the specific barriers faced by the EV charging industry that EVJoints aims to reduce for users and station owners or operators?
As mentioned earlier, there is a significant gap between EV owners and station operators. EV users struggle to find stations, while station operators can’t drive traffic to their stations. Currently, EV owners need to install multiple EV charging apps to locate and initiate charging sessions, often requiring preloaded wallets across different apps. This complexity discourages long trips with EVs, with many customers opting for fuel-powered cars for such journeys.
We are in the pre-MakeMyTrip era of charging stations. Remember the days when we had to visit individual airline websites to find the best flight? EVJoints aims to resolve these issues by using technology to eliminate the need for multiple EV charging apps, simplifying the process for EV drivers.
Besides eMSPs like us, I’ve noticed increased interoperability between CPOs. This is a healthy step forward for the sector’s growth, as CPOs like Statiq and ChargeMod are now cross-hosting their stations on each other’s platforms rather than competing. They’ve also partnered with Google to display the real-time status of their stations on Google Maps.
How does EVJoints enable EV users to find and utilize charging stations effectively? Could you explain the process briefly?
Through our EV charging app, EV users can locate charging stations, check the real-time status of each station (e.g., whether it’s currently available), navigate to the station, initiate a charging session, and complete payment—all across different charging networks. This eliminates the need for multiple apps. Currently, users can find over 6,000 charging stations across various networks on our app, along with details like plug types, tariffs, and contact information, helping them make informed decisions.
Additionally, we’ve already onboarded two CPOs (Charge Point Operators) to show the real-time status of 100 of their stations. In the coming months, we aim to display the availability status of around 500 stations. This will allow our customers to see whether a station is available for charging, in use, or not functional.
In the final phase, within the next four months, we will deeply integrate with stations so that users can not only locate them and see real-time status but also initiate charging sessions and make payments through our app across different networks of charging stations.
Could you share some success stories or testimonials from EV users who have used EVJoints? How have they benefited from your platform?
Since the app’s launch, we’ve gained around 600 customers, primarily through organic growth and referrals. We see about 10 downloads daily on both Android and iOS. I make it a point to speak with at least 5-10 customers daily, depending on my schedule, to gather their feedback. I’m always pleasantly surprised by how patiently they provide their input, which we take very seriously and incorporate into our updates.
For example, their feedback led us to prioritize building the route planner over other features. A few customers mentioned that the clustering of pins on the map was causing inconvenience, so we removed it based on their suggestions.
One customer, who was traveling from Bangalore to Kanchipuram, found a nearby station using our app. He was so pleased that he recommended promoting the app through YouTube influencers and even referred a friend with an EV.
What are your long-term goals for EVJoints? Do you plan to expand into other markets or offer additional services?
Our journey to expand into other markets is a long one, but integrating charging stations from anywhere in the world using OCPI is relatively easy—that’s the beauty of this station aggregation business.
First, we aim to establish a robust and interconnected charging station network in India to accelerate EV adoption before considering other markets. By doing so, we intend to create a win-win proposition for EV users by offering convenience while helping CPOs increase traffic to their stations.
We aspire to be the unified EV charging app for all forms of EV charging in India, including battery-swapping, wireless charging, on-demand portable chargers, and future technologies
“We aspire to be the unified EV charging app for all forms of EV charging in India”
Charles Nadar, Founder – EVJoints
What sets EVJoints apart from other companies offering similar services in the EV charging network space?
Few pure eMSPs in the market focus solely on aggregating stations without selling software or setting up stations. Others target fleet operators for profitability, but we are committed to building a B2C brand, even if it takes years to be profitable.
What truly sets us apart is our focus on educating and empowering prospects and EV users. Our website’s EVGuide section provides comprehensive information, featuring 100 blogs on various EV topics and a dedicated electric vehicle FAQ page addressing all queries. Education is critical for EV adoption, and we are committed to providing the necessary knowledge.
We have, on average, about 5,000 users visiting both the blog and FAQ sections to learn about various aspects of electric vehicles and charging intricacies. Users who visit our site often convert into customers, allowing us to organically build our brand.
Additionally, we disseminate our blogs across different social media platforms. For instance, we post blogs on X (Twitter) as threads and on Instagram as reels, which helps us reach the relevant audience organically.
In terms of technology, we are building a strong yet flexible architecture capable of handling even hundreds of thousands of charging stations on our app. Everything we build is from scratch, backed by extensive research, which gives us confidence that we are creating one of the most robust backend technologies to manage both large numbers of stations and customers. Additionally, we are developing an extensive route planner to help EV users plan uninterrupted trips and drive with confidence. This feature will not only show the route but also estimate battery consumption throughout the journey and identify mandatory stops needed to reach the destination.
How do you see the future of EV charging infrastructure evolving, particularly regarding accessibility and convenience for EV owners?
According to the EV Yatra portal by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, there are about 25,000 public charging stations across India. However, it’s unclear how many are currently operational.
At this nascent stage, we lack the extensive network of charging stations similar to fuel pumps. Even the network of fuel pumps didn’t appear on every nook and corner of India overnight; it took decades to establish a dense network of fossil fuel stations. Similarly, building a robust charging station infrastructure will take years, but we can build confidence in EV users by interconnecting existing stations into a few platforms. This is crucial, and I believe networks will open up to aggregators like us, benefiting both parties. With proper planning, one could potentially travel from Kanyakumari to Kashmir using tools like trip planners.
To encourage private players to install stations, the central government has introduced several schemes offering subsidies and reduced GST to 5% on various charging station components. Key players like Tata, Charge Zone, Jio-BP, Statiq, Glida, Zeon, Relux, Nikol EV, Shell Recharge, and others are rapidly installing stations at strategic locations to address range anxiety. We expect more players to join the sector, building networks and aiding EV adoption in India.
Additionally, companies like Hopcharge, Mobec, and Cargar are developing on-demand portable chargers, bringing charging stations to users wherever they are stuck. We also anticipate new technologies like wireless charging to enter India, further enhancing convenience for EV users.
Central and state governments are working closely to strengthen the grid infrastructure to handle the increasing power consumption at public charging stations. Recently, the government released a set of guidelines for installing charging stations, including the turnaround time for government officers to respond to grid upgrade requests from charging station owners. This is quite encouraging as it fast-tracks the installation of stations. The guidelines also emphasize safe, reliable, and accessible charging infrastructure.
It’s only a matter of time before we mature as a fully EV-adopted country. Until then, you can use our Route Planner to identify stations well in advance before embarking on your long trips.
