The collaboration seeks to transform the EV charging experience in India, blending technology, design, and premium services. SunFuel will provide plug-and-play locations where Glida will install cutting-edge superchargers. Their collaboration will create premium highway charging hubs and slick destination charging stations, ensuring redundancy, reliability, speed, and convenience.
Gurugram, 28th November 2024: In a landmark partnership aimed at redefining the EV charging experience in India, Glida (Fortum Charge & Drive Plc.) and SunFuel (SunFuel Electric Plc.) have joined hands to create a state-of-the-art EV charging experience across highways and premium destinations. The agreement was inked between Mr. Awadesh Kumar Jha, CEO of Glida, and Mr. Sudhir Nayak, Founder and CEO of SunFuel Electric, in Gurugram on the 28th of November.
Through this partnership, SunFuel will provide location support as Glida’s partner providing
fully developed, plug-and-play charger installation sites across the country. Each site will host multiple chargers from Glida and other OEM partners in future, ensuring redundancy and reliability for EV users. While Glida will handle the installation of cutting-edge EV chargers, SunFuel will focus on site upkeep and enhancing the overall user experience.
SunFuel aims to redesign the EV charging experience by transforming its sites into fully integrated hubs. These hubs will go beyond the traditional charging solution by incorporating on-site solar power generation for clean power, advertising spaces to leverage commercial
opportunities, and ancillary services such as retail counters, quick-service outlets, and express car maintenance. Additionally, they will focus on user comfort by enabling clean washrooms, leisure amenities, and robust security measures to ensure a safe environment on highways. This holistic approach blends efficiency, innovation, and premium amenities to deliver a superior EV charging experience.
Speaking about the collaboration, Mr. Awadesh Kumar Jha, CEO of Glida, remarked, “This partnership is a positive-sum game that benefits the EV users as much as it helps the hosting partners with a slick, and well-managed facility. By combining Glida’s expertise in EV
Charging technology with SunFuel’s innovative design and site management capabilities, we
aim to set a new standard for EV charging experience in India. Our joint efforts will ensure
state-of-the-art charging infrastructure replete with world-class amenities that users must get
on highways.”
Mr. Sudhir Nayak, Founder and CEO of SunFuel, highlighted the company’s design-first ethos and commitment to innovation, saying, “Since 2020, we have strived to redefine the EV charging experience by introducing new form factors. The monolith AC charger is one such form factor that pioneered destination charging at luxury hotels and golf courses. With Glida as our partner, we aim to bring our expertise to highways, creating never-seen-before EV charging hubs that blend functionality with aesthetic brilliance.”
In addition to its focus on highway charging hubs, SunFuel & Glida will continue to expand in the destination charging space, a segment witnessing rapid growth as more EV users embrace long-distance electric travel. Hotels, resorts, and other premium venues are increasingly demanding fast DC chargers to meet the growing expectations of their guests. SunFuel and Glida’s collaboration will empower these establishments with a combination of AC and superfast DC chargers, ensuring EV users experience minimal wait times and a seamless charging process.
As newer electric cars enter the market, they come equipped with increasingly larger batteries, designed to provide greater range and improved performance. Alongside this growth in battery size, advancements in battery-technology are enabling these batteries to charge at significantly higher speeds with every subsequent iteration. This shift has created an unprecedented demand for faster, more efficient charging solutions, particularly at premium destinations like luxury hotels. These locations are expected to offer top-tier amenities, and EV charging infrastructure is no exception,” explained Mr. Sudhir Nayak. “Our partnership with Glida enables us to meet this demand with superfast chargers that blend innovation, speed, and reliability. EV users expect more than just charging—they want a convenient and premium experience, and that’s exactly what we aim to deliver.”
By equipping destination sites with multiple chargers to ensure adequate redundancy through AC and DC Chargers, this partnership ensures reliability and scalability which has so far evaded the EV Charging space. This will help in making EV travel to hotels, resorts, and leisure destinations as seamless as possible. A mini-charging hub inside the hotel premises replete with AC and DC Chargers not only supports guest convenience during overnight stays but also caters to travellers seeking quick stops during their journeys for a DC Charge, helping address a critical gap in India’s destination charging network.
SunFuel and Glida’s partnership is poised to redefine both highway and destination charging, setting new benchmarks in EV infrastructure while aligning with India’s green mobility goals. Together, they aim to build a charging network that inspires confidence, encourages EV adoption, and supports the country’s transition to a sustainable future.
