Startups Leading the Next Innovation Wave in the Indian EV Space
An NIT Kurukshetra alumnus, Dev is a passionate techpreneur who boasts of a career spanning over 11 years and has even incepted another company in the renewable energy sector named OV Energy.
At present, EV sector in India is still in its nascence with the first generation of vehicles being launched into the market. Also, we are witnessing a large number of startups taking birth in this sector on a regular basis, especially in terms of OEMs, battery packs, motors and similar other sub-categories. While this is on the upstream side of the industry, on the downstream side, we are seeing many new startups mushrooming in the areas of after-market services, logistics, distribution, charging infrastructure and many others. Additionally, leasing is emerging as the most preferred financing option for the public to switch to EVs, as this requires low out-front cost, technology risk is balanced and the monthly lease rentals are cheaper than the financing options that the banks provide. This has also been one of the key drivers for the increased adoption of EVs in recent times.
Latest Innovations & Tech Advancements
Of late, we are seeing a lot of advancements happening in the area of battery packs, which is the primary differentiator between ICE vehicles and EVs. Although many modern-day startups are innovating extensively in this area by experimenting with various chemical combinations, the industry has now almost entirely accepted the LFP chemistry which is used in commercial fleets of vehicles. A few other areas of battery packs where startups today are engaged in R&D are cell balancing, enabling fast charging for existing packs, cooling systems to adapt to Indian conditions and others. Despite such promising innovation, I feel there is still a lot to be done in terms of extending the battery packs' life.
On the software front, the data that are being generated by the EVs have resulted in a lot of R&D currently happening by numerous startups in the areas of battery management and vehicle management systems. With these vehicles becoming smarter and capable of generating more data sets, companies are now analyzing that data effectively to gather meaningful insights into diverse parameters pertaining to both the vehicle and the driver’s behavior. Overall, the key areas where today's EV startups are focusing their R&D efforts are efficient battery chemistries, enhancing the life of batteries & vehicles, and reducing TCO of the vehicles for the end customers.
The Government’s Role in Nurturing EV Startups
While the government has already been very proactive in encouraging the EV sector in the country, it should now create more research lands. Top government institutes such as IITs already have labs to support the R&D of battery packs and home numerous advanced testing equipment to analyze the battery performance. Going forward, the government must now create more such institutes around the country to support the startups in their innovation journeys and pave the way for more entrepreneurs to foray into this sunrise sector. Although the government has already rolled-out multiple equity schemes, there is an immediate need for the government to create more incubators and sources of equity & debt financing focused specially on the EV sector. Furthermore, the government can itself become an active consumer of EVs by coming up with ways for more of its agencies to purchase these vehicles. Lastly, the government must create knowledge sessions and programs to bring in more awareness about the benefits of EVs among the general public and demystify the risks around these vehicles.
Future Prospects
With the massive support coming in from the government, along with increased awareness and focus on sustainability among the population, the future looks very promising for the EV space in India. Also, the recent move by the Delhi government to make it mandatory for commercial vehicle fleets to completely switch to EVs by 2030 has been a very bold move by the government towards curbing the air population crisis among its cities. Thus, I believe 50-70 percent of the overall sales depending on the vehicle segment will be electric by 2030. In terms of the private sector too, e-commerce companies such as Amazon and cab aggregators such as Uber have set ambitious targets internally regarding the percentage of their fleets they would want to switch to electric as part of their ESG initiatives. Most importantly, given the rapid pace at which innovations are happening in the EV battery packs space and charging infrastructure, the days are not far where electric vehicles will be considered as the most viable, economic option especially for the commercial vehicles segment.
.jpg "Dev Arora, CEO & CO-founder, Alt Mobility")
At present, EV sector in India is still in its nascence with the first generation of vehicles being launched into the market. Also, we are witnessing a large number of startups taking birth in this sector on a regular basis, especially in terms of OEMs, battery packs, motors and similar other sub-categories. While this is on the upstream side of the industry, on the downstream side, we are seeing many new startups mushrooming in the areas of after-market services, logistics, distribution, charging infrastructure and many others. Additionally, leasing is emerging as the most preferred financing option for the public to switch to EVs, as this requires low out-front cost, technology risk is balanced and the monthly lease rentals are cheaper than the financing options that the banks provide. This has also been one of the key drivers for the increased adoption of EVs in recent times.
Latest Innovations & Tech Advancements
Of late, we are seeing a lot of advancements happening in the area of battery packs, which is the primary differentiator between ICE vehicles and EVs. Although many modern-day startups are innovating extensively in this area by experimenting with various chemical combinations, the industry has now almost entirely accepted the LFP chemistry which is used in commercial fleets of vehicles. A few other areas of battery packs where startups today are engaged in R&D are cell balancing, enabling fast charging for existing packs, cooling systems to adapt to Indian conditions and others. Despite such promising innovation, I feel there is still a lot to be done in terms of extending the battery packs' life.
There is an immediate need for the government to create more incubators and sources of equity & debt financing focused specially on the EV sector
On the software front, the data that are being generated by the EVs have resulted in a lot of R&D currently happening by numerous startups in the areas of battery management and vehicle management systems. With these vehicles becoming smarter and capable of generating more data sets, companies are now analyzing that data effectively to gather meaningful insights into diverse parameters pertaining to both the vehicle and the driver’s behavior. Overall, the key areas where today's EV startups are focusing their R&D efforts are efficient battery chemistries, enhancing the life of batteries & vehicles, and reducing TCO of the vehicles for the end customers.
The Government’s Role in Nurturing EV Startups
While the government has already been very proactive in encouraging the EV sector in the country, it should now create more research lands. Top government institutes such as IITs already have labs to support the R&D of battery packs and home numerous advanced testing equipment to analyze the battery performance. Going forward, the government must now create more such institutes around the country to support the startups in their innovation journeys and pave the way for more entrepreneurs to foray into this sunrise sector. Although the government has already rolled-out multiple equity schemes, there is an immediate need for the government to create more incubators and sources of equity & debt financing focused specially on the EV sector. Furthermore, the government can itself become an active consumer of EVs by coming up with ways for more of its agencies to purchase these vehicles. Lastly, the government must create knowledge sessions and programs to bring in more awareness about the benefits of EVs among the general public and demystify the risks around these vehicles.
Future Prospects
With the massive support coming in from the government, along with increased awareness and focus on sustainability among the population, the future looks very promising for the EV space in India. Also, the recent move by the Delhi government to make it mandatory for commercial vehicle fleets to completely switch to EVs by 2030 has been a very bold move by the government towards curbing the air population crisis among its cities. Thus, I believe 50-70 percent of the overall sales depending on the vehicle segment will be electric by 2030. In terms of the private sector too, e-commerce companies such as Amazon and cab aggregators such as Uber have set ambitious targets internally regarding the percentage of their fleets they would want to switch to electric as part of their ESG initiatives. Most importantly, given the rapid pace at which innovations are happening in the EV battery packs space and charging infrastructure, the days are not far where electric vehicles will be considered as the most viable, economic option especially for the commercial vehicles segment.
