EVs battery manufacturers in India | Pinnacle, IOC, Exide and many others

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India is getting ready to ramp-up its EVs battery production volume to meet the future demand

The EVs Battery: India is one of the largest market of the automobile in the world. The electric vehicle market is growing here and different companies are taking the benefits of being the first comer in Indian market. Where the same time a lot of people are worried due to the high level of simplicity and less components of the electric vehicle as compared to the regular IC engine vehicles. At the same time some companies are preparing for the future. Yes, they are planning to become the pioneer in the new emerging EV industry.

Battery manufacturing or assembly is still un-explored area in the India. Maximum EVs manufacturers are importing the whole battery pack from the China. Only the few domestic manufacturers such as Mahindra Electric, Ather Energy, TVS Motor Company and others have developed the technology to assemble the imported lithium cells into the battery packs for their EVs. So, overcome this companies like Pinnacle Industries, IOC, Exide have done partnership with the companies from other countries.

Pinnacle Industries inaugurate the EV battery manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharastra

The Pinnacle Industry and China’s Phylion Battery Company inaugurated a fully functional lithium-ion battery assembly plant in Pune on 16th Jan 2020.

Pinnacle Industries

Started in 1996 in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, Pinnacle Industry is now India’s largest commercial vehicle’s seating & interior company. Through the innovative product designs, development & manufacturing, the company provides the different layout customization options for commercial vehicles. The company’s vehicle component manufacturing facility has spread over 18 acres at different location of India. 600+ working employees support 25000+ components per day.

 Phylion Battery Co. Ltd.

The Phylion Battery Co. Ltd. manufactures vehicle batteries. The Company has dip knowledge of battery technology through their past research work. Phylion produces and sells the Lithium-ion batteries, light car batteries, electric vehicle batteries, and other products. Phylion Battery markets its products primarily throughout China with limited overseas now. China’s leading li-ion battery manufacturer, Phylion Battery Co. Ltd. successfully completed the production of 10 million batteries. The Phylion achieved milestone with the consistent market growth. The company has rolled out their first battery from the product line in the year 2003. Then, the 4 million lithium battery milestone was achieved fifteen years later, in 2016. And by the end of 2018, 8 million batteries were sold. The 10 millionth lithium-ion battery came off the assembly line in the year 2019.

Joint venture of Pinnacle & Phylion for EVs Battery manufacturing

Recently, both the companies announced their new joint venture in India to manufacture the lithium-ion battery in Pune location. A production ready facility inaugurated on 16th Janurary 2020.

During the inauguration and media address session, Sudhir Mehta, chairman and MD, Pinnacle Industries said- “Being one of the long-term players in automotive component manufacturing, we understand the importance and the need for organized, integrated, credible and safe EV battery assembly facility in India. There are immense market potential and dire need to localise manufacturing of EV batteries, to bring down the vehicle cost and make EV’s more viable, benefit the small OEMs to get localized products for low speed vehicles and other applications, and improve the after sales service. We look forward to address the existing industry gaps with our association with Phylion and Government’s impetus on electrification of vehicles through its various policies.”

Speaking with the media, Andrew LEE, vice-president, Phylion said: “We are elated to partner with Pinnacle Industries, to cater to the expanding Indian EV market. Our strategy is to use our 16 years market approved lithium-ion cells to help Pinnacle to develop batteries with optimized cost and performance for Indian temperatures. We have been committed towards providing high quality and safe products and we look forward to scaling up the renewable manufacturing in India.”

Other Indian companies partnership:

Some of the major players from energy industry are also in the race to become the king of future in India.

EXIDE formed a JV with Switzerland-based Leclanch SA for EVs Battery

Exide always been known for its high level of reliable battery in the Indian IC engine vehicles. Even this brand has won the different segment of market space in the country. Now it was the time to secure the future and maintain the legacy.

Exide earlier formed a joint-venture with the Switzerland based Leclanch SA, one of the world’s leading energy storage solution companies, in June 2018.

The company unveiled e-rickshaw brand ‘Exide Neo’ on 16th October 2019. The market, which Excide is targeting are the cities of the West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, North East and the National Capital Region. During this event the Exide’s MD, Gautam Chatterjee, talked about its further plan regarding the manufacturing of lithium-ion battery. He said- “the company’s lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility is expected to start production Decembe onwards. The facility is located in Gujarat.

The company has formed a 75:25 joint venture with Swiss firm ‘Leclanche’ and has already invested around ₹100 crore. Another ₹100 crore is expected by the end of March 2020. The other points from his side- the lithium-ion batteries are costly and plans are also on to introduce a leasing / financing model so that e-rickshaw users can adopt to these, if required.

Indian Oil (IOCL) plans for EVs battery

The Indian Oil Corporation Limited is a government company which deals in oil and gas. In last year, the company shown its interest in the future technology. But not in li-ion, the one which can benefit India even in the long term.

In August 2019, IOCL chairman Sanjeev Singh said- the company will set up 1GW plant to make the electric vehicle battery. The this battery chemistry will be different than the -ion. He also added- with the help of an overseas battery technology startup, IOCL will further align the work in future. Going with the non-lithium ion battery technology the chairperson believes- “The lithium-ion batteries that we see today are not the only answer. We don’t have lithium in India and so if we are looking at EVs in a big way, we have to look at something which is indigenously available. We have already tied up with one company. Further, we are working on a solution which can be manufactured 100% indigenously,”.

The location of the manufacturing facility is yet to decide and the same proposal is given to the Indian government for further approval. IOCL is taking this initiative to ensure its market presence in the changing world. The company is also aggressively working for the EVs charging station set up at different locations in this India.

My Word

As per the recent Fortune Business Insights report- with increasing production of electric vehicles, the global EV battery market volume will reach at 40.6 million units with a CAGR of 21.1 per cent by 2026 from 8.6 million units in 2018 (expected). Same we can see in India.

This clearly shows how India is going to be the one of the major players in EV industry. It brings the huge demand of the electric vehicle battery and as listed above, companies are well aware of this. In my opinion, there is a lot of scope in the high density battery production in India. Currently, the un-organized electric 3-wheeler market is using low density batteries, and even those are not safe to use. But once slowly this sector as well as the personal and commercial vehicle EVs will start coming in the market the battery demand will definitely increase.