Subtext by Zerodha

Zohra Khan on the Indian EV infra industry

Episode Notes

In this episode of Subtext, we sit down with Zohra Khan, CEO & Founder of IPEC India - a power electronics company building EV chargers for the Indian market.

We cover:

• How EV chargers actually work and why they need to be customised for each vehicle brand
• Why India's power grid is both a challenge and an opportunity for EV adoption
• The push to standardise charging connectors and protocols for two-wheelers (Think EV version of USB-C)
• Why German and Chinese chargers often fail in Indian conditions - and how IPEC builds for that
• The semiconductor supply chain problem and India's path to self-reliance
• What's coming in FY2027: bidirectional charging, 2x growth, and new product launches
• A deep dive into the infrastructure powering India's EV revolution.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zohra-khan-889a8a14a/

Time Stamps:

0:00 – Introduction to IPEC & Zohra's Background

2:46 – How EV Chargers Work & What Differs Across OEMs

5:34 – Bottlenecks for EV End Consumers (Home vs Public Charging)

9:29 – Charging Protocols & Standardisation (CCS2, OCPP, OCPI)

11:49 – The LEAF Consortium & Two-Wheeler Standardisation Efforts

14:36 – AI & Innovation in EV Charging (Miniaturisation, Bidirectional Charging)

22:11 – Indian Power Grid & DISCOM Challenges

27:54 – Single Phase vs Three Phase for Home EV Charging

31:00 – Transformer Bottlenecks & Dynamic Load Management

34:03 – Why Indian-Made Chargers Outperform Foreign Ones

43:39 – Supply Chain & Localisation: What's Hard to Make in India

57:28 – Risk of OEM Backward Integration

63:23 – IPEC's Vision & What's Ahead for FY2027