Saar: It will transfer the lithium-ion cell technology to firms, which qualify under its screening criteria, on a non-exclusive basis.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that it is willing to transfer the in-house developed Lithium-ion cell technology to firms which are interested in mass-producing EV batteries. If qualified, the chosen firm needs to pay Rs 1 crore to complete the transfer. ISRO said that the agreements will be made on a non-exclusive basis and that the patent will remain with itself.
The said technology has been developed by ISRO’s Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). As soon as a firm qualifies to produce EV batteries using indigenous tech, VSSC will come into the equation to help in establishing production facilities that can produce cells of different size, capacity, energy density and power density. For e-cars, ISRO has developed 100Ah cells which can hold enough electric charge to power a four-wheeler. Even ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) is satisfied with the developed technology for vehicles.
Like all major automobile markets, India is slowly progressing towards electrified mobility. But the biggest hurdle we have is lack of infrastructure to support electrified vehicles. Before we get to that, there is another issue that all major e-car makers come across – the cost of building an EV. More than 50 per cent of the parts that go in producing an electric vehicle are imported and hence the end product is too far out of the common man’s reach.
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One of the more expensive components in that list is the battery pack which powers the electric engine. If batteries can be produced locally, the final cost of the electric vehicle should come down substantially. That’s what every carmaker is aiming for – to localise the production of EVs and the battery would be a good starting point. With this move from ISRO, we can surely see a faster manufacturing setup to not just support the existence of EVs but also bring their costs down in India.
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