Ashok Leyland and Israel's-Phinergy to develop electric CV solutions

Ashok Leyland, one of India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Israel’s Phinergy to secure a long-term arrangement for its electric commercial vehicles. According to the LoI, the partners will work towards providing varying energy management solutions to the customers.

Phinergy, an Israel-based start-up that specialises in hybrid lithium-ion and aluminium-air/zinc-air battery systems for electric vehicles, together with the CV manufacturer, will work towards the adoption of unique, competitive and sustainable solutions for high-energy applications in the commercial vehicle space. 

Phinergy, an Israel-based start-up that specialises in hybrid lithium-ion and aluminium-air/zinc-air battery systems for electric vehicles, together with the CV manufacturer, will work towards the adoption of unique, competitive and sustainable solutions for high-energy applications in the commercial vehicle space. 

“We see good potential for Phinergy’s technology in India. This will add further to our various portfolios for commercial vehicle EVs, where we are committed to offering our customers competitive solutions with various options that use cutting edge technology,” said Karthick Athmanathan, head – EV and eMobility solutions, Ashok Leyland.

S. A. Sundaresan, head of mobility team, Ashok Leyland, said: “Over the next few months, we will develop the first few prototypes and trial options on different platforms in order to better tune Phinergy’s offerings for various CV applications. Our approach to EV commercial vehicles will continue to be such that we move people and goods rather than batteries, with optimal use of battery capacities.”

Aviz Tzidon, CEO, Phinergy, said: “We are excited to be part of India’s EV ecosystem and are happy to be offering our technology for CV applications through this relationship with a strong Indian player like Ashok Leyland who also have a commanding global presence. We believe that our high technology solution will help the Indian customers to keep costs low while addressing range anxiety and reliability. We look forward to rapidly developing our offerings and scaling up operations for CV applications in India with Ashok Leyland, with whom we have worked closely over the last year.”

David Mayer, VP, Business Development, Phinergy, said: “Given the grid and power position in most markets, this will be the first time EV commercial vehicles will have a grid-independent solution that is cost-effective as well as emission-free.”

This is the second collaboration for Phinergy in India, yesterday, State-Owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had announced its LoI with the company for developing ultra lightweight metal-air batteries for electric vehicles.

Last year, Autocar Professional, had revealed Ashok Leyland’s plans and resources which were drawn up, when it has embarked on its plan to "systematically" electrify each of its existing platforms. That would mean a fairly big electric CV portfolio. Currently, Ashok Leyland has seven M&HCV truck platforms on which 47 models are based, and 142 variants of buses are based on 10 platforms. In LCVs, it has two platforms each for the goods and passenger carrier segments. The company had already spent Rs 100 crore for electric mobility.

The company had also announced its strategic alliance with Sun Mobility, where the partners would leverage India’s innovation and engineering potential for developing world-class electric mobility solutions.