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Escaping the Chinese connection in EV space impossible. This Indian company can change that

Even though the demand has been sorted, the sheer cost economics of operating an EV trumps everything else. Log9 story hold promise.

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Over the years, this writer has attended hundreds of media conferences replete with flashing lights and dancers, and where cuisines from all over the world are served. Sometimes it is just to launch a new colour of a model or some obscure feature in it. It is rare though to attend an event where something momentous takes place. But when something like that does happen, you expect good attendance. This Friday in Bengaluru, I had a similar feeling. I was at the Log9 Materials ‘Day Zero’ annual function and this small company based on the outskirts of India’s Silicon Valley was about to announce something that was a first for the country, and truly revolutionary in my opinion.

Log9 Materials announced the start of production of commercial-scale Lithium-Ion cells.

These Lithium-Ion cells will be used in two and-three wheelers for last-mile applications — you know the folks delivering your Amazon or Zomato order. Sure, the manufacturing line is a very small one, just able to make 50 Megawatt Hours (MWh) of cells every year, enough to power around 20,000 average electric two-wheelers. This may not seem like a big deal at once, but when you look at the state of affairs in a country that is desperate to go electric, things will start to make sense.

A major factor that has stymied the electric vehicle (EV) transition in India is China. While some manufacturers like Ather EnergyOmega Seiki Mobility (OSM) and Ola claim to get their Lithium-Ion cells from South Korea and the US, escaping the Chinese connection in the EV space was almost impossible.

But things may have started to change.


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The shift

Uday Narang, founder and CEO, OSM, a major customer of Log9 says that all his future products will be using these ‘Made in India’ cells: “As you know the EV industry in India has been facing challenges around the FAME-2 subsidy because the cells are the single-most expensive item on an EV and so many companies buy them from China. But with these cells, my three-wheelers will be 100 percent ‘Made in India’, no controversy there. And really, isn’t that what the government wants?”

Rajan Anandan, MD, Sequoia Capital India, one of the venture capital firms that has invested in Log9 tells me that his “Company has the potential to change India.” He, however, didn’t comment whether Log9 would join a host of other Bengaluru startups and become a Unicorn (companies with a valuation of $1 billion). Along with Sequoia, Exfinity Ventures, Malaysian oil company Petronas and Amara Raja Batteries are large investors in the company, which recently raised $40 million in their Series B fundraise.

Karthik Hajela, COO and one of the three co-founders of Log9 Materials, which saw life at the Indian Institute of Technology in Rourkee, is bullish about the future. “The demand is there, even if our plans for a Gigawatt factory materialise soon, there is enough demand for 15 Gigawatts-Hour (GWh) of battery capacity today in India. And by 2030, the Niti Ayog says that there will be demand for 60 GWh of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage in India.” He adds that contrary to popular perception, the government has been working on securing raw Lithium supplies from Africa and Latin America, “but we do need to invest far more on downstream processes, particularly the processing of Lithium ore.”

Log9 began as a nanomaterials company, and Hajela believes their biggest competitive advantage is their use of Lithium-Titanate (LTO) chemistry for their cells. “There are a couple of reasons. LTO cells have an extremely long life of 10,000 charging cycles. They can outlast the mechanical components of a vehicle and be used over the life of three vehicles. They can also be rapid-charged every single time. And best of all, we have substantial Lithium reserves in Kerala.” Log9’s aim, according to Hajela, is to promise that an EV can be rapidly charged in as long as it takes to fuel a petrol or diesel vehicle. “We can charge a two-wheeler in five minutes and a three-wheeler commercial vehicle in fifteen minutes. Once the back-end improves and faster charging stations are built, even that time can come down.”

But what about the persistent fear of thermal runaway. The summer of 2022 saw dozens of cases of electric two-wheelers catching fire across India. “The fact is that some Indian manufacturers brought in lower quality cells because of price. Lithium – Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt (LI-NMC) which are popular because of their weight and energy density are not ideal in my opinion for tropical climates. So, poor quality cells coupled with high ambient temperatures was not a good combination.”

Hajela believes Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) and LTO cells are the best given Indian climatic conditions. “Indian vehicle manufacturers are leading exporters already to tropical climates because we know how to build cars and two-wheelers for such climates. I think the same can happen with electric vehicles in India as well.” Sure, much more needs to be done. For example, the recent Lithium find in Jammu’s Reasi district has to be prospected. And importantly, in Hajela’s opinion, India has to work hard on developing and creating talent to work in companies like his. “Frankly, engineering institutes need to overhaul their curriculums so that we can develop better chemistries, software algorithms and circuits for EVs.”

There are still several potholes on the road on India’s path to electrification. Even though the demand has been sorted, the sheer cost economics of operating an EV trumps everything else. But the Log9 story proves that those potholes are being repaired.

However, capital is key in this transition. So it isn’t surprising that at the end of the presentation, S Vijayanand, CEO, Amara Raja Batteries announces that they will be investing Rs 9,000 crore in a new Lithium-Ion battery megafactory in Telangana that will produce 15 GWh of cells annually. They plan to make it up and running within a couple of years with Log9 as their technology partner.

@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.

(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)

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