Bounce, India’s first smart urban mobility solution, has signed a deal with Chara, a Bengaluru-based deep-tech startup that has developed motor technology which is rare-earth free, hyper-efficient and easier and cost effective to build. The partnership will lead to locally produced electric motors for its owned fleet of EVs. The partnership will see Chara design and manufacture customized motors for Bounce based on Chara’s innovative motor and drive technologies. This development is a part of Bounce’s strategy to develop its owned fleet of EVs deployed for its mobility solutions. With localization of the core component of the electric vehicle, Bounce will save a sizeable amount on imports: motors and its associated controllers are now imported in all EVs deployed in India.
Speaking on this announcement, Vivekananda H R, Co-Founder, Bounce said, “Bounce is always looking at innovative ways to increase adoption of new age solutions. The company aims to transform the way India commutes. We are excited to be partnering with Chara to source locally produced rare earth magnet free electric motors, which will go a long way in maintaining cost efficiencies while making India independent of the global supply of rare earth materials.”
The world is finally moving away from a hydro-carbon based (Petrol, Diesel, Natural Gas, etc.) economy to an electron (batteries, FCV, etc.) based economy. This has led to, amongst many other things, greater dependence on rare-earths for building our motors, batteries and electronics. Rare-Earth minerals come with their own challenges. The ore availability is concentrated in a few regions. Growing demand saw the price double over the last few quarters and Geopolitical risks could only make things worse. All these factors could lead to an unstable Supply chain resulting in supply bottlenecks and increased price volatility.
Chara’s motors come with various advantages. Decoupling from Rare-Earth magnets, Chara’s motors are made with more 100% locally sourced, sustainable raw materials, which can reduce the motor cost by up to 40%. Their simple construction and fault tolerant electrical design provide a robust motor with high temperature tolerance. This partnership will make EV manufacturing sustainable and empower the local innovation ecosystem.
On this partnership, Founder and CEO of Chara, Bhaktha Keshavachar said, “This partnership is a testament to our ability to partner with innovative companies that are striving towards a common goal of a more sustainable future. It is necessary to invest in deep tech to build technologies that can help us move towards sustainability in the long term and also help us as a country to play a more significant role in the electric transformation than to just remain as consumers.”
The novel motors custom designed by Chara for Bounce will be locally manufactured and deployed in Bounce’s fleet at the beginning of next year. The motor, when deployed, will be the first of its kind in the world and opens up opportunities in other platforms, in domestic and foreign markets.
