The commencement of Electric vehicles happened in the early 19th century. In its initial state, it failed to accumulate market insights due to its high cost, low speed, and short range, resulting in a decline in global demand.
However, because of their convenient nature, electric vehicles were driving the public and transportation space. As the concern for sustainable transportation utilities experience a rise with experiencing inflation in alternative energy sources, the interest in electric vehicles went on increasing.
Fast forward to 2022, the electric vehicle industry is experiencing an immense thrust and companies in this space are aggressively working towards manufacturing sustainable solutions to drive reliability in this space.
Innovative solutions like rapid charging stations, lightweight, and long-lasting batteries are on the rise. Some companies are working to develop the essential infrastructure required for the growth of the EV industry. This is where SemaConnect comes into the picture.
SemaConnect is providing a wide variety of AC chargers – from 7.2kW to 19.2kW with assorted products catering to different market segments of the EV industry and is driving the EV space by providing holistic and integrated solutions to their clients in the EV industry.
In an exclusive interview with Insights Success, team SemaConnect sheds light on the company’s journey, the current industrial scenario, and opinions on the future of the company in the EV industry.
Please describe our audience about SemaConnect in detail.
SemaConnect was set up to be an integrated and comprehensive solution provider for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in the world.
As one of the pioneers in the field – from the early days the endeavour has been to provide a holistic and integrated solution combining hardware and software in this space.
Please brief us about Mahi Reddy and shed some light on his professional tenure in the EV space.
Mahi Reddy is the Founder and CEO of SemaConnect. Mahi has been a serial entrepreneur and has been associated with starting and scaling companies over the last 3 decades.
Mahi started SemaConnect in late 2008/09 as he saw the future of transportation moving to clean energy and electric vehicles.
As one of the pioneers in this space, Mahi has seen the growth and evolution of the EV industry in technology, standards and share of the market.
What made Mahi Reddy venture into the Electric Vehicle Solution Space?
Early visibility into the future of the automotive industry through industry veterans in Detroit and the larger United States transportation industry gave Mahi a view into the future.
As a seasoned entrepreneur, Mahi also had the wisdom to enter the space early and take a cautious approach to build the business for the long haul using sound business principles and pricing strategies while using an integrated hardware and software approach to the business.
What kind of challenges has Mahi faced while commencing his professional journey in the Electric Vehicle Solution Space?
Any entrepreneurial entry into a business especially a new area is challenging. In the beginning, the lack of any standards across the world was a huge challenge as different OEMs had their standards. The price of batteries and hence of vehicles was also hampering the growth of the industry.
In India, the lack of a good standard especially for two and three-wheelers continues to be a challenge. An increase in the number of models for four-wheelers to be available for sale is also an impediment.
While the government has made some good policies like the FAME II scheme and the reduction in GST as well as the removal of road tax in many states – we now need the industry to stand up and deliver in the form of new and innovative products and for consumer adoption to pick up.
What kind of offerings does SemaConnect provide to its clients?
SemaConnect provides a wide variety of AC chargers in the US Market – from 7.2kW to 19.2kW with assorted products catering to different market segments including home chargers, commercial chargers, fleet market chargers. In 2022, SemaConnect will also launch its range of DC chargers in the US Market.
In India, we are currently limiting ourselves to one version of the 7.2kW charger called the Series 7. This is a dual plug charger capable of charging two cars at the same time.
We are also launching a new product in Q2 of 2022 (CY) for the Indian market. This will be a two-wheeler charging solution.
How was SemaConnect affected in these pandemic times and what were the steps taken by you to curb the damages while helping your clients and maintaining the safety of your employees?
The pandemic did have a significant impact on business especially in terms of supply-side challenges in parts and the bug uptick in commodity costs. The slowdown in shipping has had a substantial impact as well.
In India, for R&D there was an enormous impact as a couple of months of work from home is not that easy for an R&D outfit that needs to evaluate the components and assemblies – activities that cannot be executed from home.
On the sales side, the India business was impacted as we were just trying to start the business and the WFH for all our potential clients on the corporate side did impact things.
What would you like to advise the young generation of entrepreneurs and enthusiasts who want to venture into the Electric Vehicle Solutions Space?
Be sure of what you want to do and your approach to the business – this is going to be a big market so we are sure that a lot of people will enter the space.
Entrepreneurs need to be sure of the business model that they want to adopt and play the long game.
Where do you envision SemaConnect eventually, and what are your future goals? How do you plan to embrace the changes happening in the EV industry?
We have a clearcut vision to be a leader in the EV Charging Infra space and provide holistic, integrated solutions to our clients.
For this, we will need to keep investing in R&D and technology – keep scaling the sales side as well as ramping the product portfolio to keep offering value to our customers.
