Grevol, CATL join forces for the EV battery pack in India
Zero-emission automotive technology organization, Green Evolve Private Ltd. (Grevol) has announced that it has partnered with the Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) for the development and manufacturing of EV battery packs for long-term cell procurement.
This new battery pack is created for its soon-to-be-launched three-wheeler (L5N category) light commercial vehicles, Grevol said in a release.
The company manufactures zero-emission smart, IoT-enabled vehicles and advanced lithium-ion battery packs to meet the requirements of last-mile mobility. CATL is known for its supply to global auto-giants like Tesla, BMW, and Mercedes.
"Using these high-grade cells, we can reduce the charging time to less than two hours by providing a fast charging option to achieve 200 Km range/day and a life of 200,000 Km or up to 8 years by our estimates," Jayant Gupta, founder, and CEO, Grevol, said. Gupta is a lawyer-turned-sustainability entrepreneur having made successful exits from distributed solar ventures.
Based on trials and customer feedback, Grevol believes that its upcoming L5N category vehicle can consistently deliver a longer range with a higher payload capacity in comparison to other EVs in the three-wheeler segment.
"We had to insist on the e-commerce delivery partners to take our vehicles for longer routes as they were not confident with electric vehicle capabilities based on earlier experience with other electric 3-wheelers they have used so far. The delivery partners were pleasantly surprised to note that Grevol vehicles provide a much superior range with heavier payloads," Gupta said.
Grevol's CTO Sanjay Aggarwal, an IIT (Madras) alumni and a veteran in the power electronics domain, said, "An EV is essentially a battery pack on wheels, comprising 40-50 percent of the vehicle cost. The four elements that, together, create this ideal lithium battery pack are cell sourcing, a dynamic battery management system with cell balancing, an active thermal management system, and last but not the least, the design and packaging of the battery pack.
We conducted comprehensive lab and on-road tests to identify and resolve the challenges associated with the adaptability of lithium-ion batteries in the warmer climatic and tough road conditions prevalent in India."
Today, most EV startups are focussing on the E(electric) rather than the V (vehicle) aspect. "Vehicle stability, durability, aesthetics, and functionality are as important as the electric drivetrain integration.
The foundation of an e-vehicle needs to be built on the existing vendor network of conventional vehicles, with proven performance standards, along with a wide aftermarket component availability," Rakesh Gupta, the Co-founder, and COO, who, previously, spent over 30 years in commercial vehicles development with Tata Motors, said.
