Pure EV inks pact for indigenous lithium-ion tech

Hyderabad: IIT Hyderabad-incubated startup, Pure EV, is collaborating with CSIR-CECRI on indigenising lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology for electric vehicles.

Pure EV has signed an MoU with CSIR-CECRI to undertake joint research on the 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, VK 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, 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 for mass-scale commercialisation 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."

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 a 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 the CECRI team in enabling them to realise the 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 commercialisation."