Boosting the local production in the country, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has collaborated with Department of Science and Technology (DST) to create a platform that will support the development of new electric vehicle batteries to suit and meet Indian requirements.
The partners say a white paper will be prepared on a roadmap for the development of new battery technologies in India; this would be followed by the creation of an expert-industry forum or platform to support this process.
This was the first in a series of consultations that will be held with experts from leading institutions and representatives from vehicle manufacturers, the battery industry, regulatory bodies, testing entities and independent laboratories focused on battery chemistries.
Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director-research and advocacy, CSE said, “India has been working with FAME and production-linked incentives to push the EV story, but challenges abound concerning cost, safety and charging infrastructure – all of which point at gaps in fulfilling the country’s zero-emission ambitions. The gaps range from concerns relating to safety, supply chain, cost sensitivity and need for quick charging opportunities among others.”
Moushumi Mohanty, Senior Program Manager, Clean Air and Sustainable Mobility, CSE, “This joint initiative of DST and CSE is aimed at addressing these gaps and to create a platform that will assess, evaluate and identify technology solutions that are safe, have locally appropriate supply chain systems and can be customized for the various vehicle applications.”
The round table consultation highlighted following key issues for establishing future pathways:
- Build volumes for EV battery manufacturing and ensure the supply chain to further develop the pathways.
- Assess the needs of Indian vehicles and the climatic stress to develop pathways for battery management and thermal management systems.
- Need appropriate cost-effective solutions for small format two-wheelers.
- EV battery chemistries in India need to be application-specific.
- Need innovation in lithium-ion batteries that will dominate for a considerable time, especially in small vehicles.
- Develop regulations and technical standards to push the battery trajectory.
- Pay attention to ageing of batteries.
- Develop regulations for the in-use performance and durability of EVs.
- Need data bases on performance and safety parameters to develop locally appropriate battery technology pathways.
- Recycling end-of-life batteries will be important for material recovery though it will take time to mature.
- For safe batteries, start-ups may require open-source battery management support.
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