Log9 Materials aims to catch the EV drift with India's first lithium-ion cell manufacturing unit

• Bengaluru-based Log9 Materials announced the launch of the first commercial lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility on Friday.
• The company’s new facility will support the production of large-form cylindrical cells ranging from 22 series to 66 series, suitable for different vehicles.
• The company claims its cells have improved energy densities, shorter processing times, and reduced efficiency losses.

Log9 Materials, a Bengaluru-based battery-technology startup, on Friday, announced the launch of the country’s first commercial lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in Bengaluru at its Day Zero event.

Electric vehicles have become quite popular over the years, and while a lot of the parts are being sourced locally, one of the biggest components of an EV, the battery pack, is currently imported from other countries.

The company’s new facility will support the production of large-form cylindrical cells ranging from 22 series to 66 series, suitable for different vehicles.

"Our cells are designed from the ground-up in India, for India; to suit Indian operating conditions, climate, and customers, and are hence going to play a crucial role in making India self-reliant while helping the nation realise its ambitious electric mobility vision," said Dr. Akshay Singhal, co-founder and CEO, Log9 Materials.

Singhal told Business Insider India that made-in-India battery cells could take the localised components to value up to 90%. Further, he also said that the market is large enough, so any competition is welcome in this segment. He noted that Log9 alone couldn’t cater to the entire market’s demands.

Log9 has claimed that the cells produced by the company have improved energy densities, shorter processing times, and reduced efficiency losses. The company has claimed that It has been able to cut down the processing time by 40%, required equipment by 35%, and cut down the cost per kWh by 6%.

The company’s current production capacity stands at 50MWh per year. During the first year, the company will start a pilot program to test its battery cells and supply them to its OEM partners.

In addition to the cell manufacturing facility, the company also announced the launch of Chervik - the company’s custom battery management system (BMS). The company has claimed that the indigenously developed BMS offers high safety and reliability for high-power applications.

Charvik integrates the electronic voltage controller (EVC), telematics, the slave BMS and the vehicle control unit (VCU) into a single motherboard, which it says will make packaging easy.

The company says this technology enables the cells to rapidly charge in 5 to 45 minutes, fast charge between 45 to 90 minutes, and slow charge in over 90 minutes.

Ola Electric too plans to manufacture battery cells locally

Ola Electric unveiled its first indigenous battery cell in July last year and announced plans to manufacture it locally in India by 2023.

The company has been allotted a capacity of 20GWh under the ACC PLI scheme by the government, and the cell manufacturing facility is currently in the works. The company said it would hire around 500 engineers and PhDs.

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