Distributed Storage

With electric vehicles making up only 3% of the global car market last year, analyst WoodMac says battery packs need to be cheaper and lighter and range anxiety must be addressed to change the habits of drivers.

China, Hong Kong and Vietnam are the top three nations exporting batteries to India. Chinese imports were worth $773 million in the last fiscal year with Hong Kong shipping $267 million worth and Vietnam $114 million, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The joint venture will set up a factory in India to manufacture Al-Air batteries for electric vehicles and stationary applications and facilitate development of eco-system for Al-Air technology.

Batteries, and the raw materials that make them, are a frequent target of public criticism. The high water consumption required for lithium extraction is speeding up the desertification process around the salt lakes of Latin America’s so-called “lithium triangle”, for example. The mining debate highlights general problems with the extraction of raw materials, including copper, crude oil, and lithium, but international companies can still influence extraction methods – and there are plenty of different approaches.

February 1 is the last date to submit applications for setting up the electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in 70 plus cities across the country. The selected company shall also provide operation and maintenance support.

A 50% fall in the price of Lithium-ion battery packs—to $76/KWh from $156/KWh today—will make the capital cost of electric vehicles lower than combustion vehicles. However, to realise the full benefits of EVs, it is important to charge them with clean power and not fossil power.

BHEL’s scope of work includes complete engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) solutions from concept to commissioning of EV charging stations. EESL, on the other hand, will make the entire upfront investment on services, along with the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure.

The joint venture between Japanese majors Toshiba, Denso and Suzuki will make the investment in the Gujarat plant over the 2021-25 period, having pumped Rs12.5 billion into the first phase of development.

The university researchers will provide expertise in the operation and management of lithium-ion batteries, environmental test facilities for battery modules and advanced battery analysis techniques.

Battery swapping is the ultimate expression of a sharing economy in which assets are shared to facilitate business operations—says E-Chargeup Solutions, which recently launched a battery swapping station for e-rickshaws in Noida city of Uttar Pradesh.