NE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY BUREAU
HYDERABAD, DEC 16
IIT Hyderabad-incubated Startup PURE EV is collaborating with CSIR – Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI), headquartered at Karaikudi with its Extension Centre at CSIR Madras Complex, Chennai on indigenizing Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB) technology for electric vehicles. This initiative will support the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives of the Government of India.
PURE EV has signed a MoU with CSIR- CECRI to undertake joint research on production of battery packs, validation of LIB cells and addressing the specific requirements to ensure the suitability of developed LIBs for critical performance at the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) conditions.
Lithium battery is the most reliable and commercially-viable choice for electric vehicles across the world. Currently, in India, Lithium cells are mainly imported from China, which is a very critical dependence necessary for final battery packs required for electric vehicles.
To address this market monopoly, CSIR has launched a project titled, ‘CSIR Innovation Centre for Next Generation Energy Storage Solutions (ICeNGESS)’ with an aim to produce LIBs on a 100 MW scale. PURE EV is an electric vehicle vertical of the startup PuREnergy that is engaged in design and development of advanced LIBs manufacturing with core focus on battery thermal management system, hence making it one of the top picks in this mission.
Speaking about this mission, Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, Government of India, said, “Achieving self-reliance and developing core competence in Lithium cells manufacturing is critical for the emergence of electric vehicles as a predominant mode of transportation in India. Since we are starting from a low base, it is critical that the eminent institutions working in the cell manufacturing also collaborate with the industry partners who can carry out accelerated testing to provide the necessary feedback for further improvements.”
Highlighting the impact of this collaboration between PURE and CSIR-CECRI, Dr. V.K. Saraswat said, “This collaboration between PURE EV and CECRI will lead to important outcomes on areas like Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS) and Safety which are critical to for mass scale commercialization of these cells. NITI Aayog strongly encourages such partnerships which can lead to a more flexible supply chain for the evolution for an important industry like electric vehicles.”
Collaboration between PURE EV and CSIR-CECRI is a big step in setting the path forward for indigenous Lithium-Ion technology to help the country in boosting Electric Vehicles apart for stationary and storage applications. Under this MoU, PURE EV will assist CECRI in the following areas:
- Production of battery packs with the inclusion of BMS of appropriate category to address thermal management and safety
- Validation and testing of LIB cells and battery packs for their suitability in mobility / stationary applications
- Battery packs for strategic applications by way of addressing the specific requirements and to ensure the suitability of CECRI developed LIBs for their critical performance at the mentioned SoP / SOC conditions
Speaking about the Collaboration between CSIR-CECRI and PURE EV, Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Secretary, DSIR & DG, CSIR said “Towards making India Aatmanirbhar in energy sector, CSIR-CECRI with its expertise in the field of electrochemical energy storage systems is working towards the indigenization of lithium battery technology and strengthen the indigenous supply chain and infrastructure requirements. This collaboration with PURE EV is an appreciable initiative and is expected to boost the electric vehicles commercialization in the country”.
Speaking about the collaboration with PURE EV, Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director of CSIR-CECRI, said, “CECRI is working on mission mode under the project titled “CSIR Innovation Centre for Next Generation Energy Storage Solutions (ICeNGESS)” which would enable indigenous Lithium-Ion technology to help the country in addressing the requirements of its mission on electrification of two/three/four wheelers apart from stationary and storage applications. The emphasis of this program falls under the umbrella of Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives of the GoI. We look forward to a very fruitful collaboration with PURE EV who will be our industry partner in the battery pack assembly, testing and performance benchmarking. We intend that such partnerships open up door for further collaboration opportunities.”
To reduce the dependency on imports of battery components, India needs to achieve the similar level of performance at the battery pack level, apart from just manufacture the battery cells. Under this MoU, Pure EV will also provide critical feedback to CSIR- CECRi in understanding the technical limits of the manufactured cells and the additional improvements which will be required to achieve mass scale commercialization.
Speaking about the MoU signed with CSIR-CECRI, Mr. Rohit Vadera, Chief Executive Officer, PURE EV, said, “This collaboration with CSIR-CECRI to manufacture lithium batteries with indigenous cells for our high-speed EV 2W is matter of pride for PURE EV due to the long term interests of the nation. Our extensive R&D work in the battery thermal management system gives us unique insights in the battery performance and lifecycle enhancement. We will work closely with CECRI team in enabling them to realise full potential of their initiative. We will carry out extensive testing for performance validation across various EV 2W models across the pan India terrain conditions and benchmark with respect to the imported cells and providing them crucial feedback to achieve mass scale commercialization.”
MoU between PURE EV and CSIR-CECRI is a very successful example of a startup achieving commercial success through technology demonstration and associating with a research institute of international prominence for commercial deployment of their products. With the on ground learning of the company, PURE EV will be able to provide CECRI with highly valuable insights towards commercialization of the technology.
