Can Exponent Energy supercharge India’s EV industry?

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Editor's note: Set off the busy Hosur Road in Bengaluru, the Exponent Energy office is nondescript. A small building next to a long testing rink, with a row of three-wheeled electric vehicles—a cross between an autorickshaw and a tiny van, the kind used for deliveries within a city—parked by the side. Also scattered around are several battery units or sets, with small groups of engineers tinkering with and analysing both the batteries and the machines. One of the vans is filled with multiple heavy batteries and is being tested for load. Inside the office, Arun Vinayak, one of Exponent’s two co-founders, runs through the current state of electric vehicles, batteries, charging and what the startup is trying to solve. As the conversation goes on, he becomes more animated, liberally punctuating technical details with analogies, breaking down the complex process of batteries and charging units communicating with each other. He starts sketching systems and graphs on a whiteboard to better explain the nuances of the technology he and his team have built. Exponent Energy—founded by Vinayak and Sanjay Byalal Jagannath, both former executives …