Exicom Makes India’s First Liquid-cooled Charging Modules, Starts US Exports

Exicom has started manufacturing what it says are India’s first liquid-cooled power modules for EV chargers at its Hyderabad facility and has begun exporting the locally manufactured units to the US.

The power electronics company spent close to two years developing the technology and invested about $3.5 million in the project, according to Anshuman Divyanshu, CEO, EVSE, Exicom. The development involved engineering, validation and the creation of specialised manufacturing capability required to produce the modules at scale.

“It has taken us close to two years of development time to reach a stage where we could start manufacturing,” Divyanshu told Autocar Professional.

The modules are being manufactured entirely in India, while their engineering and development involved Exicom teams across India, Brisbane and the US. They are now being used in the company’s next-generation DC fast chargers as well as solar inverters for international markets.

“Today we have started exporting these modules from India to our factory in the US,” Divyanshu said. “The rectifiers for our next-generation chargers from the Tritium umbrella are getting powered by the modules which are being manufactured in Hyderabad.”

Up to 99% Efficiency

Exicom gained access to Tritium’s liquid-cooled DC fast-charging technology following its acquisition of the Australian company’s business and assets in 2024. Divyanshu said Exicom subsequently worked on developing its next-generation liquid-cooled AC-DC and DC-DC modules for manufacture in India.

According to Divyanshu, the new modules can achieve efficiency of up to 99%, compared with around 95-96% that he cited as typical for conventional modules. The modules use silicon carbide-based power electronics, a technology he expects to become increasingly prevalent in EV chargers as the industry seeks higher conversion efficiency.

Liquid cooling enables power electronics to operate within a more controlled temperature range and accommodate higher power density. Divyanshu said this becomes increasingly important as EV batteries support higher charging rates and chargers move towards higher currents.

The technology comes at a cost. Divyanshu said the bill-of-material cost of the liquid-cooled modules is currently around twice that of conventional air-cooled modules, although the company expects the gap to narrow as volumes increase.

Exicom, however, is offering a 10-year warranty on the liquid-cooled modules, compared with what Divyanshu said is typically around two years for air-cooled modules.

He estimates that the liquid-cooled units could consequently be around 25-30% cheaper over their operating life on a total-cost-of-ownership basis, while also delivering higher energy efficiency.

India to Remain Largely Air-cooled for Now

Despite manufacturing the technology in India, Exicom expects overseas markets to provide the larger opportunity in the immediate future. Divyanshu said the US and Europe are more mature high-power charging markets and customers there have a greater willingness to pay for higher-performance technology.

Exicom expects its next-generation international products to use the liquid-cooled modules, while its Indian charger business will remain overwhelmingly air-cooled in the near term.

“In India, at least for the next two years, we presume that 95% is going to be air-cooled and 5% is going to be liquid-cooled,” Divyanshu said.

He expects that equation to begin changing over the next two to three years as vehicles capable of accepting higher charging currents enter the Indian market.

India’s high ambient temperatures could strengthen the case for the technology. Conventional air-cooled power modules can derate at high temperatures to protect their components, which can reduce the charging power available to a vehicle.

Divyanshu said liquid cooling can allow a charger to maintain performance even when ambient temperatures reach around 45 degrees Celsius. Conversely, maintaining an optimal module temperature can also benefit chargers operating in sub-zero conditions in markets such as Europe and the US.

The technology becomes particularly relevant as the industry moves towards higher-current charging. Divyanshu said liquid cooling becomes necessary as charging currents move beyond around 500 amps and will be integral to Megawatt Charging System applications being developed for heavy-duty electric vehicles.

Exicom is therefore developing for demand that has yet to emerge at scale in India. Divyanshu expects faster-charging vehicles and higher-power infrastructure to eventually make liquid cooling significantly more relevant to the domestic market.

Bidirectional Modules, Third-party Supply Possible

The new modules are also bidirectional, according to Divyanshu, giving the hardware the capability required for vehicle-to-grid applications.

The broader deployment of V2G in India, however, will depend on the electricity ecosystem and regulations developing to support bidirectional power flows between EVs and the grid.

The same liquid-cooled module architecture is not restricted to EV chargers. Exicom is using the technology in solar inverters being piloted with customers in the US, allowing the company to deploy the power electronics platform across multiple applications.

For now, Exicom intends to keep the modules largely captive for its own products despite receiving interest from other companies.

“This is our unique IP,” Divyanshu said. “For the next few quarters, it is going to be us.”

He said the company could eventually open the technology to other manufacturers after using it as a differentiator in its own chargers and power-electronics products.

Exicom is also working to bring down the cost of the modules as production scales. Divyanshu expects higher shipments from India over the coming year to improve manufacturing economics, as the company looks to establish Hyderabad as a production base for power electronics serving both its domestic and global businesses.