Designing an indigenous and self-reliant EV ecosystem in India

India-specific, Reliable and Safe Indigenous EV batteries, BMS and Charging infrastructure are necessary for India to become self-sufficient, and for faster adoption.

The battery is one of the most critical components of an EV. We need to ensure the right battery technology, raw materials access, a skilled manufacturing workforce, and capital to position ourselves in the battery value chain in India.

We are witnessing a transformative shift to electric mobility across all significant markets, enabled by CleanTech disruptions in renewable energy and energy storage technologies. Despite the compelling ease of rapid adoption, EV success has been hampered by concerns about the upfront cost of ownership, battery life predictability, and access to charging infrastructure.

Policy Support: Numerous policy interventions are driving the global E-mobility transition, and India is no exception, with demand creation through cash incentives, tax breaks for vehicle purchase and registration, subsidies for establishing charging infrastructure and discounted electricity tariffs, policy support for building local manufacturing capacity and the EV supply chain, and so on. It has gained significant momentum with FAME-II implementation, and the total cost of ownership is already in favour of e2W and e3W. Battery Swapping Policy (Battery as a Service) could bring down upfront EV costs and charging issues. Government schemes have boosted the EV sector in India, but market growth ultimately depends on gaining consumer trust and diversifying product offerings.

The energy crisis and its repercussions: the global energy crisis will accelerate the EV transition as people realise they can’t rely on conventional energy sources in the long term. This would drive accelerated innovation, increased capital flow, and cross-border collaboration to build viable alternatives and nonconventional energy sources with an increasing sense of urgency. Even though current EV charging demand in India is only 1 – 1.5 per cent of total power demand, assuming 30 per cent penetration and 200-250 GWh 

cumulative battery capacity by 2030, managing this additional power demand is both a challenge and an opportunity for distribution utilities to implement innovative business models such as time-of-use electricity pricing, smart metering, vehicle-to-grid technology, and so on.

Challenges and Opportunities: While we witness great excitement and rapid growth in the EV segment in the country with an increasing number of E-vehicles on the roads, it is just the beginning and a long way to go before we can claim that we have built a matured and self-reliant ecosystem in the country. This journey faces some significant challenges that require committed and integrated efforts from various stakeholders to overcome and build sustainable momentum.

• India’s Specific EV Solutions: Indian urban and rural mobility needs are unique and require specific solutions. For example, in one of the early adopters in India-e2W, the estimated daily average distance travelled by a 2W is 27-33 km. This calls for designing batteries that serve such drive schedules rather than burdening the customer with higher upfront battery costs. The micromobility market in the last mile delivery segment is another use case that requires a customised battery and charging network for economic mobility solutions.
• Charging infrastructure: Accessible, simple-touse, and reasonably priced charging infrastructure, whether at home or in public places, is required for EVs. A range of charging technologies currently available are AC and DC fast chargers, and more are expected to emerge. With over 1 million EVs on the road (majorly e2W and e3W), India has over 12,000 charging stations. Assuming 50-70 million EVs on the roads by 2030, India needs significant investment to develop EV charging infrastructure to keep pace with EV adoption.
• Supply Chain limitations: A secure raw material supply for batteries and an optimised supply chain setup are vital for the EV transition. To reach India’s ambitious domestic cell manufacturing capacity target, say 100 GWh by 2030, it would require about Lithium-10 kt, Nickel-30 kt, Cobalt-5 kt, and Graphite-110 kt (depending on technology), which are not available in India. So, we should have a mechanism to access these materials through the government’s G-G initiatives. Also, private industry participants should establish strategic global partnerships to mitigate supply chain risks.
• Research and Development: India has relied mainly on cell imports with limited local module/ pack assembly operations. While we might initially look at accessing the technologies through global partners, building India-specific technologies and expertise to keep pace with technological changes is impossible if we continue importing these technologies. We should have a strong R&D capability built within India, which requires solid collaborative efforts by industry, government, and academia to become self-reliant. Individual corporate efforts may not be enough for India to compete globally.
• Skilled workforce The EV industry in India faces a shortage of several skills, from design to repair and maintenance. It is estimated that the EV industry will create 1.2 million jobs by 2030, unlocking a broad spectrum of technology, associated infrastructure, and services opportunities. Since EV skill sets are different from ICE, skill upskilling and reskilling of talent would define the future of the mobility ecosystem in India.

Conclusion 

We are sitting on the cusp of a vast transformation with India moving in the right direction with government and industry efforts. This transition is providing enormous opportunities for EV ecosystem players. While there are challenges, I think India has demonstrated the capability to adopt new technologies in the manufacturing and service sectors in the past and is undoubtedly going to adopt EV technology changes and acquire domestic capabilities in the manufacturing and service sectors.

Expertise shared by 

Vijayanand. S, President- New Energy Business, Amara Raja Batteries Ltd.