While EVs are growing by leaps and bounds in India, there have been multiple instances of fire accidents and battery failures from time to time. Why is this happening? Explaining this, Deepak Singh Rawal from Hioki India delves into the challenges and solutions with Nidhi Agarwal from EFY.
Q. How is India doing in terms of vehicle technology and industry progress?
A. Overall, India is progressing well in this space. Based on our understanding of the market and customers, we are working closely with both major and smaller brands in India and globally, including companies like Tesla. I have seen clear improvements in vehicle quality. At manufacturer facilities, advanced vehicles are already being produced with technologies such as powertrains, battery management systems (BMS), batteries, and other components in place. Technologically, the vehicles are ready, but the main challenges lie in infrastructure, the broader ecosystem and the current geopolitical situation.
Q. Do original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) face problems when adding new technologies? If yes, what are they?
A. When new standards or technologies come, costs go up. For example, Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) vehicles are more expensive than Bharat Stage 4 (BS4) because stricter emission rules required changes in engine technology. Diesel and petrol engines became more complex to reduce emissions. Adopting new technology requires changes in production and research and development (R&D), as well as significant investment. In India, a major challenge is the lack of skilled technical manpower.
In India, electric vehicles (EVs) are still a relatively new technology spanning many fields, including electronics, power electronics, chemistry, infrastructure, energy storage, and motors. Currently, our education system does not offer courses focused on this.
Q. How do EV makers keep batteries cool and safe from overheating?
A. We need to understand battery thermal management and cooling systems, which are essential for both internal combustion (IC) engines and EV vehicles, especially for high-capacity batteries. Thermal runaway is a separate issue that usually occurs due to quality defects, such as poor-quality cells, weak welds or soldering in battery packs, improper BMS balancing or poor assembly. In countries like India, where road conditions and temperature variations are extreme, battery packs must be carefully tested and maintained to meet strict standards and regulations.
Q. How is fast charging optimised to charge quickly without damaging the battery?
A. Fast charging is not suitable for batteries, as we understand it now. Most batteries in India are not entirely manufactured but mostly assembled, so their quality and the data in their BMS do not fully support fast charging. EVs are data-driven, so for software engineers to program the BMS for fast charging, they need to run thousands of tests. Prototypes must cover hundreds of thousands of kilometres, and battery cycles must be tested repeatedly. Only then can the software create the right algorithms. With more research and development, it could improve in the future.
Q. Which is better, AC or DC charging?
A. Researchers and OEMs are already working on wireless and dynamic charging, and in Europe, buses and trucks can charge while moving using overhead cables on specific routes, allowing long-distance travel without stopping. For domestic charging, AC chargers are safer but slower, while DC chargers charge batteries much faster, making them better for highways and commercial use. Both types are helpful, but the choice depends on the application, so the government, OEMs and the private sector need to plan which charging type suits each use case.
Q. What are the significant challenges in the real-world implementation of wireless charging?
A. Efficiency in wireless charging drops because there is no physical contact. To improve efficiency, the system needs higher frequencies, which increases the cost of the converter components.
Q. How are EV failures different from IC engine vehicle failures?
A. IC engines are more complex and mechanically driven, so their parts have defined lifespans, which makes it easier to predict their running cycles. EVs, on the other hand, have fewer main components, mainly the motor, frame and battery, but these rely heavily on software. The powertrain is robust but challenging to maintain, and the battery is the most difficult part. Lithium batteries have limitations, and researchers are working to make them more durable and reliable under different conditions and loads.
Q. What tools are used to find faults in an EV powertrain?
A. Nowadays, EVs are much smarter than older IC engine vehicles. While IC engines use tools like OBD scanners, the choice often depends on what the consumer can afford. EVs, on the other hand, are more data-driven. OEMs use specialised tools to diagnose vehicle problems without opening the vehicle. The software they use for coding is called CAN bus, and most sensors and communication systems can be checked through these tools, allowing complete diagnosis of the EV power system.
Q. What are the gaps in current testing tools for electric powertrains and battery systems?
A. The main components to test in a powertrain are the DC to DC controller and the motor. The challenge lies in testing the power electronics. To achieve higher efficiency, the industry is moving to high-frequency power devices such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) for inverters. Testing these high-frequency powertrains is expensive. Large companies can afford it, but smaller manufacturers of two-wheelers and three-wheelers often cannot. This lack of proper testing and investment in quality is why accidents and failures are more common in EVs, mainly two-wheelers and three-wheelers, than on four-wheelers.
Q. How do standards keep things safe, and are they being followed?
A. From my understanding, the standards in India are not enough to ensure vehicles are truly safe or of high quality. Safety is not just about surviving an accident; vehicles also need to perform safely on the road. We have seen cases where accidents did not involve collisions, but vehicles still caught fire, showing that regulations, especially for two- and three-wheelers, are not stringent enough. At the same time, stricter standards bring challenges because manufacturers must produce higher-quality vehicles, which increases costs. For example, a car costing ₹1 million today could cost ₹1.2 to ₹1.5 million under stricter norms. Improving safety requires balance: the government must set practical standards, and manufacturers must take responsibility for meeting them while keeping vehicles accessible to consumers.
Q. What are the challenges in recycling an EV battery?
A. Recycling can be done in two ways: recycling a battery pack or recycling individual cells. Battery pack recycling is easier for companies that understand the design, but it depends on how the pack is made. Some packs are filled with epoxy before closing, which hardens and makes opening the pack dangerous; breaking it can cause short circuits. Large packs from vehicles that have reached a particular state of charge (SoC) or state of health (SoH) can be disassembled, and usable cells can be repurposed for lower-power applications such as mailing robots, push-pull robots, lawn mowers, carts or e-rickshaws. Recycling individual cells, however, is still mainly in the research stage.
Q. What role do government rules and incentives play in growing the adoption of EVs in India?
A. The government has played a positive role by setting a 2030 vision for EVs and introducing schemes such as performance-linked incentives (PLIs) to support the industry. However, building the entire EV ecosystem, including charging infrastructure and manufacturing, requires substantial investments, which remains a challenge. While the government is pushing adoption and offering benefits for both consumers and manufacturers, many ground-level issues and practical challenges remain.
Q. How can public and private sectors work together to accelerate the development of EV-related technologies in India?
A. It all starts from the roots. The public and private sectors, along with the government, need to develop engineers specifically trained in this technology; without them, India would remain highly dependent on other countries. To address this, the government is funding universities, colleges and even polytechnic institutions in remote areas to teach students about EVs. Another key challenge is the power sector, which must meet the growing demand from charging stations. At the same time, the government is promoting new startups through multiple schemes for manufacturing, assembly and reproduction of this technology, giving citizens opportunities to build ‘Made in India’ solutions. Consumers also have a role to play by supporting sustainable practices and contributing to a cleaner environment for the future.
