In the electric vehicle era when the mighty internal combustion engine along with a few other parts would become obsolete, the battery would literally take centrestage–through the floor of the vehicle. It will also come in many shapes and sizes, in ways the petrol or diesel engine could never dream of even though some of them did have more than one iterations. With cost remaining a major factor in purchase decisions and the lithium ion battery expected to remain the single biggest source of cost in an EV, manufacturers will fiddle with what type of battery to plonk on based on what customer is being targeted.
“Battery and range are obviously a critical part of EV ownership experience so you will see different combinations being offered to suit the needs of different consumers,” said Balbir Dhillon, head, Audi India.
It is already happening. The new Audi e-tron that was launched earlier this year came with two different battery packs–a smaller 71 KWh pack with a certified range of 359 kilometers and a bigger 95 KWh pack that can go upto 484 kilometers. The higher range is also supported with more performance — 402 hp and 664 NM of torque against 308 hp and 504 NM torque. All for Rs 16 lakh more.
The Hyundai Kona, one of the first electric cars to hit the roads in India also has different iterations globally. It has a 39.2 Kwh battery pack alongside a larger 64 Kwh pack. Cost considerations meant Hyundai launched the one with the smaller battery pack in India.
“Manufacturers will play around with batteries as it is at the heart of an EV,” said Shailesh Chandra, president, passenger vehicle business unit, Tata Motors. “EVs will come in different body shapes and sizes and with different battery packs. Some cars will be used more for intracity purposes so one can opt for a car with a smaller battery pack and hence less range. Cities are also where the charger network is expected to be high so finding a charging point will be more convenient. The cars themselves would be more affordable as smaller battery means less price. For vehicles meant for intercity purposes, you would need bigger battery packs so manufacturers will offer that for those type of consumers.”
It is something that extends itself even to two wheelers including scooters. Ola Electric recently launched its first scooter that comes with a 3.97 Kw battery pack with a certified range of 181 kilometers and a smaller 2.98 Kw pack, which has a 60 kilometer lower range. Ather Energy’s two scooters–450 Plus and 450X, are also differentiated mostly by their battery packs.
With cost remaining a major factor in purchase decisions and the lithium ion battery expected to remain the single biggest source of cost in an EV, manufacturers will fiddle with what type of battery to plonk on based on what customer is being targeted~
While the lithium ion cells are still not produced in India, a lot of what goes into the battery pack has already been localised. Ather Energy recently said it has been able to localise as much as 99 percent of its scooters in India barring only the lithium ion cells. Ola also said, it will progressively increase localisation, which would open up the possibilities of greater innovation and flexibility to match the needs of Indian consumers.
“Except for the lithium ion cells that come from Korea and some electronic parts that are not available in scale in India, everything in our scooter is from here,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Ola Electric. “It would have been easier if all of the electronics were made in India. It is an opportunity that we should grab. On the battery side there will be a lot of action.”
“It will be the key differentiator for sure,” says Arjun Seth, lead investor at India Angel Network who recently put in capital in a Pune based startup BatteryPool. “It is still evolving and a lot of work is happening simultaneously–new chemistries and batteries with higher densities will emerge and the OEMs of today will invest heavily to create their own USP in the market. Just like in the vehicles of today, manufacturers play with the balance between power and fuel economy, in the electric vehicle era the same game will be played between range, charging and performance through the battery.”
Collective investment done by e2W, e4W, EV component makers, electric commercial vehicles, and last-mile delivery companies was recorded at INR 25,045.31 crores during January-July 2021. Meanwhile an independent study conducted by the CEEW Centre for Energy Finance (CEEW-CEF), says the EV market in India will be worth USD 206 billion by 2030 if India maintains steady progress to its 2030 target. This would necessarily entail an investment of over USD 180 billion in vehicle manufacturing and charging infrastructure.
The inflection point for electric two and three wheelers is now visible but investment in charging infrastructure in the country is lagging behind. It can pose a big hurdle and even potentially hurt growth in future.
