By Business India Editorial

Researchers from IITs have developed a new charging technology for electric vehicles, which can reduce the cost of both two and four-wheeler electric vehicles by about half compared to the current charger technology. 

Team members reported that lab scale development had already been completed at IIT (BHU), and the project was in the process of being upgraded and commercialised.

The new technology has also been embraced by one of the country’s largest electric vehicle manufacturers, the team claimed, without naming the company. The company is preparing a fully-fledged commercial product to be used with existing electric vehicles.

The technology has been developed at IIT (BHU), Varanasi, in collaboration with experts from IIT Guwahati and IIT Bhubaneswar. “The rising prices of petrol and diesel in the country is worrisome for the common man. Amidst the rising cost of petroleum products and rising pollution levels, electric vehicles (EVs) are the best alternative to conventional IC engines but lack of high power off board charging infrastructure forces automakers to incorporate onboard chargers into the vehicle itself,” said Rajeev Kumar Singh, Chief Project Investigator, IIT BHU.

“The vehicle owner can charge the vehicles through the outlet and hence, this leads electric vehicles become very expensive. In the proposed onboard charger technology, we are reducing one additional power electronics interface required for propulsion mode and, therefore, the components involved are reduced by 50 percent. The proposed charger is reconfigurable that can act as a charger for charging mode and inverter for propulsion mode,” he told PTI.

In comparison with the current onboard charger, Singh says the cost of the new one will be reduced by almost 40-50 per cent.

“The cost reduction in the charger will subsequently reduce the cost of the EV as well. In this way, the proposed technology is giving low-cost technology for EVs. The technology will be completely indigenous and will have a significant impact on driving electric vehicles on Indian roads in a big way,” he said.

IIT BHU Director Pramod Kumar Jain said the techno-commercial, social, economic and environmental impact of technology will also be positive.” The technology will improve charging infrastructure and support the government's mission to bring electric vehicles on Indian roads,” he said.