Bharat New-Energy Company (BNC) has rolled out Etrol 40, its in-house developed battery for electric vehicles.
The company claims that Etrol 40 meets AIS-156 Amendment 3 Phase 2 and is tested to safety requirements beyond even the latest norms including nail penetration, crushing, thermal testing to 40deg Celsius, and continuous operations even at temperatures going above 45deg Celsius.
The 2.1 kWh battery pack can be used by two, three-wheelers, and light vehicles.
The removable/swappable battery can be charged in under 4 hours using a standard 3-pin 6A socket. It is also working on a portable fast charger that can plug into a standard 3-pin 16A socket and charge the battery in under 2 hours.
The fast charger will be an optional additional purchase. On average, the battery can cover more than 90km in eco mode. The IP67 waterproof and dustproof battery is modular and can be paralleled as required to increase capacity.
Anirudh Ravi Narayanan, CEO & Co-Founder, Bharat New-Energy Company said, “The primary driver for us to develop this battery has been safety. Even though there are more than 100 battery manufacturers in India, there is an absolute shortage of good-quality vendors. We want to ensure first and foremost that there is zero probability of safety-related issues with the battery and that is exactly what we have accomplished.”
To meet the EV makers requirement, Bharat New-Energy Company has set up a plant within its Coimbatore facility capable of manufacturing 100,000 batteries per annum, with extensive capital investments right from individual cell level characterization and capacity grading to complete battery pack functional and capacity testing.
The company says it will make further investments towards automation and increasing capacity. BNC envisions a 5X increase in production of its 200MWh batteries by the end of the current fiscal.
Once a Battery Swapping Policy is implemented, the company plans to set up a swapping network based on the Etrol battery.
“With this battery, the customer will be able to swap and go in a minute, like refueling traditional petrol-based vehicles – except without the pollution. We await the Battery Swapping Policy to be implemented so we can begin to roll out this benefit to our customers” said Narayanan.
The Etrol 40 will come with a standard 5-year or 60,000km warranty. Vehicles that use two batteries will therefore have a standard warranty of up to 120,000km, which it claims is best-in-class in the industry.