Battery packs and connected vehicle software to boost EV business

Industries leading Ev infrastructure providers and EV battery experts share their concerns over the transformations being made to the FAME-II and PLI scheme to enhance the structural differences of electric vehicles in India.

India has made a good start in the drive towards EV adoption. Rapid implementation and industry-friendly regulation will ensure that EVs become the mainstream in the country. Currently, the sector is at a nascent stage, but it offers the world’s largest untapped market.

EV market trends post-revisions to the FAME-II subsidies and PLI

The FAME-II revisions have been very good both in terms of increased subsidies per kWh as well as extending the FAME scheme by two more years. This definitely augurs well for the industry, and we are already seeing the impact of this in EV sales. According to Venkat Rajaraman, Founder & CEO, Cygni Energy, “The EV adoption in the last 3–4 months has really been going up significantly.” There is also a general trend for all the OEMs to move towards a higher capacity battery pack that can provide a longer extended range for the vehicle, addressing the range anxiety. Of course, the PLI plan for ACC (Advanced Cell Chemistry) batteries is clearly a step in the right direction for cell manufacturing in India. This would clearly help to minimise the import dependency that we have on the lithium-ion cells. “

The federal government is prioritising a shift towards clean mobility. Recent moves to amend the FAME-II scheme to make electric two-wheelers more affordable are a case in point. In addition, multiple production-linked incentives are pushing for local manufacturing and newer technologies and products, all intended towards greater adoption of electric mobility. Looking at the same, Samrath Kochar, Founder & CEO, Trontek, says, “Policy measures like FAME and the more recent PLI scheme will encourage new players to enter this sector and look at starting manufacturing facilities in India.”

According to Maxson Lewis, Managing Director, Magenta Power, “For the EV industry, the revised extension to the FAME-II scheme is less of a ‘how much incentive’ and more of a commitment from the government to the EV ecosystem. The stringent criteria earlier made it difficult for many aspirants to get any benefit out of this. But the revision has enabled more participation from various EV ecosystem players.

“The Fame II” brings subsidies from the central government, which is a step in the right direction. The government has reduced the initially high cost of acquiring EVs, making them more accessible to consumers, “notes Mayank Jain, Director, Crayon Motors.” PLIs, on the other hand, are geared toward large-scale manufacturing. While this is positive, it can impede the Indian start-up narrative. India is becoming known as a startup hotspot. 

Meeting the infrastructural requirements for EVs

Speaking about the infrastructure, Venkat believes that the charging infrastructure and swapping infrastructure for EV 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers will co-exist. NITI-Aayog, along with the Department of Heavy Industries and BIS, is formulating the swapping policy that will be released very soon. Clearly, the infrastructure requirement for swapping is much less than that of the charging infrastructure.

Commenting on the same, Samarth emphasises the need to act aggressively to meet the challenge of EV charging stations. Considering that India is lacking in charging infrastructure, the government needs to formulate a policy for the creation of EV charging infrastructure and mandate such infrastructure at every level, starting from housing colonies to public places. Without this, the EV revolution will remain incomplete. That aside, the government has to step in and incentivise private players to set up charging infrastructure in the country, “Samarth explains.

The EV charging infrastructure is actually growing parallelly as the number of EVs on the road increases, and Maxson does not see that as an issue. While it is the highway chargers that attract attention, unknown to many, there is a multiple-fold growth in residential, corporate and fleet charging. The regulatory challenges need to be addressed now rather than later.

For wide-scale adoption, it is essential to design homogenous battery specifications. Given the high cost of batteries, the issue of battery ownership and safety plays a key role here. We are working with companies in this segment and are targeting a two-minute battery swapping process. In this regard, Mayank believes that charging infrastructure in residential and commercial complexes will be critical. “An infrastructure along the ever-expanding highways of our country will promote EV adoption. To further lower the environmental impact of EVs, we must focus on the promotion of green power,” Mayank adds.

Increasing localisation and homegrown Li-Ion batteries 

Today, we are definitely dependent on cells. With the ACC PLI scheme, the cells will be localised, and considering the same, Venkat suggests that the start of localisation will begin in the next 2 to 3 years, and we can expect some demonstrable output out of that. 

Most importantly, the EV industry in India is going to be a very big software play. Because of smart battery packs and connected vehicles, software is going to play a key role. Clearly, that is one area where India can outpace China. Considering the software requirements for a swappable battery pack, fast charging, etc., we will be able to beat China because of our inherent strength in software. Clearly, these are all the areas where there could be an increase in localisation and we could build our own battery packs, “Venkat explains further.

Sharing his concern over the existing opportunity, Maxson says that the indigenisation opportunity, if not caught now, will unfortunately lead to what happened in Solar. “India cannot afford to be a tabletop assembly player.” Indigenise or Exit.”This is my stated position on developing technologies in India, be it batteries or even motors, PCS, and other key components,” he ends.

Mayank terms this opportunity a “critical need of the hour.” Lithium handling is a tricky affair. Due to economics, until now, domestic quantities did not support undertaking lithium cell manufacturing. Today, larger industrial houses are expressing interest in setting up operations for battery cell manufacturing, an industry with a high capital cost”, Mayank concludes.

The final note

India is looking to change its profile from a fossil fuel consuming nation to one that uses renewable energy sources. The EV industry is optimistic that this will open up possibilities for companies that are supplying equipment to EV manufacturers.

However, given the concentration of lithium reserves, strategic alliances are necessary to assure a regular supply of resources. Additionally, to become self sufficient, we also need to work on developing other battery technologies.

Infrastructure requirement for swapping is much less than that of the charging infrastructure. Venkat Rajaraman, Founder & CEO, Cygni Energy

FAME-II and PLI Scheme will encourage new players to enter this sector and look at starting manufacturing facilities in India.” Samrath Kochar, Founder & CEO, Trontek

The government policies and its revision has enabled more participation from various EV ecosystem players.  Maxson Lewis, Managing Director, Magenta Power

To further lower the environmental impact of EVs, we must focus on the promotion of green power Mayank Jain, Director, Crayon Motors