EV makers are indigenising the most critical element - battery

India is also beginning to see innovations in battery cells

- Sree Mani

The battery important is the most part of an electric vehicle (EV), accounting for 30-40% of the total value. The early EVs in India imported the entire battery, and the battery management system, from mostly China, and simply connected them to the rest of the systems. That meant higher costs because of the customs duties. But, more importantly, it resulted in poor quality scooters.

India's bumpy roads, and volatile electricity grid conditions required more sturdy batteries. And, as Ravneet Phokela, chief business officer at electric scooter maker Ather Energy, says, the features you can provide, and how well those features work, depend on how well the battery integrates with the rest of the components in the vehicle. "That requires us to have full control of the battery," he says.

That's the direction EV makers are taking now. Mechanical and electrical engineers, and even aerospace engineers are being hired for research and engineering to indigenise the battery. The most difficult to indigenise are the battery cells, and some are heading in that direction. Much of the work currently, however, is in designing the battery packaging, and the coding behind the battery management system - the software that enables the battery to function as it should. EV fires are often the result of battery management failures.