Kempower is one of the largest Battery Fast Charger manufacturer in North Europe, which was one of the first regions where the EVs were introduced. Established in Lahti, Southern Finland, the story of Kempower started in 1949, when Martti Kemppi and his brother founded Veljekset Kemppi Oy, the global manufacturer of premium welding power sources, Kemppi Oy. Now, Kempower is planning to make a move into India, where there is a strong drive towards shifting from diesel vehicles to EVs. Kempower has assisted several leading companies in shifting to cleaner alternatives, and now looking to be part of the eMobility revolution in India.
In an exclusive interaction with Machine Maker during his recent visit to India, Tomi Ristimäki, the CEO talks about how Kempower believes in making the world cleaner and sustainable by enabling a shift into an electrified system of transportation. “The diversification was logical because, from the controller point of view, the content is pretty much the same”, Tomi shared about the diversification from Welding to EVs.
Tomi lauds India for taking measures towards faster adoption of eMobility, calling it a “bold move”. He believes there is a lot of potential for the EVs in India, as the country has had a long tradition of the automobile and machine-making industries. “We want to help and provide solutions, share our exposure and experience, ways of thinking EVs and how things should operate.”
Tomi Ristimäki with his Sales Director, Tommi Liuska from Finland, and their Indian subsidiary Kemppi Managing Director Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra met several manufacturers, service providers in the emerging Indian eMobility sector, and had aa constructive maiden visit during November 2019
In Europe, Norway and the Netherlands lead the eMobility revolution, and both countries are a big market for Kempower. Likewise in India in Finland, more public transports are shifting to the EV front. Northern Europe is the company’s home market, especially Norway, which has guided the adoption of the EV in Europe by introducing a lot of tax incentives. Now, public transport all over Europe is being electrified: Kempower aims to provide charging infrastructure for both public and personal EVs by providing standardized products that can be adopted for both sectors. It is now working on a project where public EVs have the right of use of charging points. In that way, the same equipment can be utilized for both public and personal transport, thus saving energy.
Kempower specialize in high power chargers which is need of the hour, but also provides slow chargers. It takes twenty minutes to charge a car with a fast charger, and an hour with a slow charger. When bigger vehicles are being charged together, low power is useful, as otherwise the infrastructure will be damaged
Kempower is currently focused on educating itself about the dynamics of the Indian market. Mr. Tomi rightly conjectures that affordability will be the most important criterion in India. However, there is a Catch 22 situation that is stunting the growth of EVs in the country, what Mr. Ristimäki calls the ‘chicken and egg’ case.
EVs are heavily dependent on charging points: without a means of charging, it is pointless to use an EV because sooner or later, it will run out of power. The problem in India is, as there are so few EVs, fewer charging points are being erected; but since there are not many charging points, fewer EVs are being sold. Ristimäki has suggested a solution. In Europe, supermarkets and restaurant chains are investing in charging points, so that they are built adjacent to their outlets. Driving customers will prefer these to outlets without charging points. EV owners can charge their vehicles, and supermarkets and restaurants will also get more customers. Governments can also relax expenditure on EV infrastructure. This is a win-win situation for all.
McDonald’s has already invested a lot in charging infrastructure. Ristimäki hopes this will work in India as investments are coming in. “In India, it is not so much about power production as it is about distribution. You need to invest in power lines. It’s about where the chargers are, ideally, one spot should have at least two chargers. Five or six are a good start,” he signs off.
To explore more about Kempower, do visit https://kempower.com/. To find out how you can partner with Kempower in India, write to rashmi.mohapatra@kemppi.com
