In an exclusive interview with Abhinav Kalia, CEO & Co-founder of ARC Electric, we deep-dive into how one of India’s fastest-growing enterprise EV mobility companies is engineering reliability in a still-fragmented EV ecosystem.
With India’s charging infrastructure maturing unevenly across regions, ARC Electric has emerged as a category leader by leveraging dense micro-cluster operations, advanced telematics, and an AI-driven intelligence stack that optimizes every unit of energy and every kilometre of utilisation.
Kalia discusses the company’s proprietary FleetOS™, its predictive battery analytics engine, and how ARC is preparing for a future where corporate EV fleets will participate in V2G, carbon markets, and demand-response programs.
1. India’s EV ecosystem is uneven. How does ARC Electric optimize fleet uptime and charging efficiency in weaker regions?
India’s EV infrastructure still varies significantly across cities, and ARC Electric has built its operations to work with these disparities, not against them. Instead of deploying fleets citywide, we focus on creating dense micro-clusters around corporate parks and business districts, ensuring that vehicles always operate within high-reliability zones. Our hybrid charging model combining dedicated depot chargers, partner charging facilities, and mobile charging units allows us to maintain uptime even where public charging is limited or the grid is unstable. We also use advanced load-balancing algorithms that analyse live SOC, grid availability windows, charger occupancy, and traffic patterns to pre-schedule the most efficient charging cycles. This prevents peak-load congestion and reduces the waiting time for both vehicles and drivers. As a result, ARC maintains superior reliability and predictable service quality even in cities where charger density, grid strength, or land availability remain major bottlenecks.
2. ARC Electric uses advanced telematics and AI. What proprietary technologies power your fleet intelligence?
ARC Electric has developed a proprietary intelligence stack that goes far beyond conventional OEM telematics. Our FleetOS™ platform integrates live vehicle tracking, SOC prediction, thermal behaviour mapping, and range variance analytics into a single control system. This is supported by EnergyIQ™, our AI-based forecasting engine that incorporates 30+ variables including weather, terrain, route history, and real-time traffic to accurately predict energy demand and optimize route assignments. We have also built HealthSense™, a predictive battery analytics layer that identifies anomalies such as charge-curve deviations, thermal fluctuations, and abnormal resistance patterns, enabling us to detect battery health issues nearly a month in advance. These systems together improve vehicle utilisation, extend battery life, and reduce energy overspend by nearly 15%. By integrating telematics, energy forecasting, and predictive maintenance in one stack, ARC delivers industry-leading operational intelligence and significantly lowers cost-per-kilometre for all corporate clients.
3. The PM E-Drive scheme shifts focus to infrastructure & heavy segments. How does this impact your long-term strategy?
PM E-Drive signals a clear policy transition toward strengthening EV infrastructure, reducing grid constraints, and enabling larger fleet categories such as buses and commercial EVs. This aligns perfectly with ARC Electric’s long-term roadmap. With incentives now directed at charging stations, power upgrades, and high-capacity EVs, we are expanding our asset mix beyond compact cars to include shuttles, staff buses, and light commercial EVs for enterprise mobility. The scheme also allows us to shift capital allocation from a vehicle-heavy model to a more balanced infrastructure-led approach, enabling us to build large-scale mobility hubs with lower financial risk. Financing partners, too, are more confident underwriting infra projects backed by government support. Overall, PM E-Drive accelerates our ability to scale across metros with predictable economics, expand multi-shift operations, and consolidate ARC’s position as a high-capacity, enterprise-grade EV mobility provider for the future.
4. As ESG becomes central to corporate mobility, how does ARC help clients measure EV-based decarbonisation?
ESG reporting today requires precision, transparency, and audit-ready metrics, and ARC Electric has built its emissions measurement framework accordingly. We follow globally recognised standards including the GHG Protocol, ISO 14064-1, BRSR, and GRI guidelines to quantify carbon savings across Scope 1, 2, and 3 categories. Our real-time carbon dashboard calculates CO₂e reductions per trip, per vehicle, and per employee, giving companies granular visibility into the impact of EV commuting. We also use well-to-wheel modelling that accounts for grid emission factors, charging source mix, vehicle efficiency, and utilisation patterns, providing a realistic view of decarbonisation. At the end of each cycle, clients receive detailed ESG impact reports aligned with compliance and audit expectations. This ensures organisations can seamlessly integrate mobility-related sustainability results into annual ESG filings while confidently demonstrating measurable progress toward net-zero commitments.
5. Battery swapping vs. fast charging remains debated. What metrics guide ARC’s choice for large-scale B2B mobility?
At ARC Electric, the decision between battery swapping and fast charging is rooted in operational economics rather than ideology. Swapping offers rapid turnaround times but requires complex backend infrastructure and often subjects batteries to higher stress, affecting long-term health. Fast charging, on the other hand, allows controlled charging cycles that extend battery lifespan and reduce overall cost-per-kilometre. For predictable corporate mobility where trips occur on fixed schedules, fast charging is more efficient because downtime can be aligned with off-peak hours, minimising operational disruption. In grid-weak regions, swapping provides a buffer through stored energy, but for most enterprise use cases, fast charging delivers better consistency, lower degradation, and more stable asset economics. Our evaluation considers utilisation rate, degradation patterns, downtime cost, and power availability. Ultimately, ARC uses both models selectively but prioritises fast charging for high-volume, long-term B2B operations.
6. With grid modernisation underway, will EV fleets participate in V2G, carbon markets, or demand response? How is ARC preparing?
India’s energy landscape is transforming rapidly, and EV fleets will inevitably evolve from simple mobility assets to active participants in energy markets. ARC Electric is preparing for this shift by designing all new depots with V2G-ready electrical architecture capable of supporting bidirectional energy flow to buildings or the grid. We are conducting pilots with OEM partners to test bidirectional chargers and understand battery behaviour under V2G conditions. On the sustainability front, we are building digital traceability systems that will plug directly into future carbon credit registries, allowing fleets to monetise avoided emissions. We are also developing forecasting tools that align fleet charging cycles with renewable availability and grid demand patterns, enabling participation in demand-response programs as they mature. ARC’s long-term vision is clear: EV fleets will transition into flexible energy assets with the ability to provide grid support, unlock new revenue pools, and accelerate India’s clean energy transition.