IIT Hyderabad-incubated startup Pure EV has announced its collaboration with CSIR - Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI), headquartered at Karaikudi with its Extension Centre at CSIR Madras Complex, Chennai for indigenising lithium-ion battery technology for electric vehicles.

The partners will undertake joint research on production of battery packs, validation of lithium-ion cells and addressing the specific requirements to ensure the suitability of developed batteries for critical performance at the standard operating procedure conditions.

The company says the lithium battery is the most reliable and commercially-viable choice for electric vehicles across the world. And at present, 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 CSIR has launched a project titled, ‘CSIR Innovation Centre for Next Generation Energy Storage Solutions (ICeNGESS)’ with an aim to produce lithium-ion battery 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.

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.”

“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 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,” added Dr. Saraswat.

As part of the 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 lithium-ion 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 lithium-ion for their critical performance at the mentioned SoP / SOC conditions.

Dr. Shekhar C Mande, secretary, DSIR & DG CSIR: “Towards making India Aatmanirbhar in energy sector, CSIR-CECRI with its expertise in the field of electrochemical energy storage systems is working towards the indigenisation 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 commercialisation in the country.”

Dr. N Kalaiselvi, director, CSIR-CECRI: “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 government of India. 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.”

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 commercialisation.

Rohit Vadera, CEO, 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 commercialisation.”