Two-wheelers are the ‘vehicle-of-choice’ for common Indians and so the Government of India along with NITI Aayog is targeting to convert two-wheelers with an engine capacity of up to 150cc to electric by 2025, and 30% of cars sold after 2030 to be electric.
However there are few challenges faced by two-wheeler batteries in India and the above target could not be achieved without eliminating these challenges.
Following are the challenges faced by 2 wheeler batteries in India-
- High Upfront Cost – The price difference of EVs and conventional vehicles stands between 35-60%. Unless EVs show significant benefits in terms of fuel savings and tax subsidies Indian auto buyers will be reluctant to spend money on EVs.
- Limited Battery Life – A typical Li-ion battery will be able to handle 300 to 500 charge/discharge cycles before diminishing in capacity. For an average electric scooter, this is 3000 to 10,000 miles!
- Long Charging Time of batteries – The long charging times of EV batteries compared to the shorter refueling times of ICE vehicles is also often quoted among the main issues delaying wider adoption of EVs.
- Price of Li ion batteries is costlier than Lead Acid batteries – Li-ion based battery technologies at its current price is 2-2.5 times more expensive than lead acid battery technologies.
- Lack of standardization in terms of Charging Infrastructure – For two-wheelers’ batteries, there is a lack of standardization in terms of charging protocol so setting standards will allow Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) or vendors to invest because there is predictability of the market for 5-6 years.
For any EV, battery is the most differentiating component. It stores the energy that is consumed by the DC motor, lights, controller, and other accessories.
It accounts for 40-50% of the total vehicle cost and plays the most important role in a vehicle’s performance. It can draw the line between success and failure of an electric vehicle.
This articles is based on “Inverted Energy R&D” Newsletter; edited by Clean-Future Team