Battery capacity needs to power EVs in India from 2020 to 2035

The battery pack and its capacity in an electric vehicle are very important. Here in this article, we will be discussing the need for the battery capacity to power electric vehicles in India from 2020 to 2035. Battery packs are the costliest of all the components in electric vehicles, one third of the cost of the EV is for the battery as there is a lack of lithium reserves in India. So the government of India, NITI Aayog, premier policy think tank, recently initiated the National Programme on Advance Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage to support the domestic manufacturing of 50-gigawatt hours (GWh) of ACCs. Read further to know more about the battery capacity needs to power EVs in India. 

Battery capacity needs to power EVs

According to the International Council On Clean Transportation, the NITI Aayog describes ACCs as battery cells with the new generation, advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy when required.

The plan proposes the subsidy from US$27 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to US$56/kWh to the manufacturer who wants to set up production units with a capacity of at least 5 GWh. It has also proposed an increase in the battery cell import from 5% to 15%
after 2022.

The main focus of this mission is to

• form and launch the Phased Manufacturing Programmes (PMP) to promote the localise the production across the value chain for EVs and EVs components
• Raw materials, electrochemistry, and end-of-life treatment of cells
• Modules, and battery packs for EVs.

The average cost of battery cells has dropped remarkably in the last decade and reached an average price of US$102/kWh in 2020. The deduction of price has increased the production volumes, rapidly advancing technology, more efficient supply chains, and decreased manufacturing costs.

It has been assumed that the cell-level costs will decrease by 7% per year till 2030 and thereafter by 5.5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, and 1% per year in the successive years till 2035. Which is said to have an average cell price of US$49/kWh in 2030 and US$42/kWh in 2035.

In 2017 it was estimated that 198 GWh of lithium-ion battery cells were produced worldwide. As per the report analysis, it is estimated that the annual global production capacity will increase to 600 GWh by 2022. India will need about 3,400 GWh to 4,100 GWh of batteries for its EVs by 2035. India’s annual requirement could be 17% to 26% of annual global production.

Localisation of the manufacturing of the batteries will not only help to have an adequate amount of products but will also create some other growth opportunities such as job creation, d growth of ancillary businesses, etc. However, if the battery cells are not manufactured and they are just assembled then it will not make benefits of the associated economic activities.

There are some major automakers that have announced the d plans to set up battery cell manufacturing facilities in India. The automakers including Toshiba Corporation, Denso Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation have jointly invested US$180 million to set up India’s first lithium-ion battery giga-factory in Gujarat

• TDK Corporation a Japanese multinational electronic company also owns Amperex Technology Limited, which is planning to invest26 US$945 million in India over the next few years to produce lithium-ion batteries for smartphones and EVs.
• Tata Chemicals is also committed to investing US$540 million to build a 10 GWh lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant in the state of Gujarat.

As per these investments, we can conclude an investment of around US$65 million per GWh of production capacity is required. Additionally, it is estimated about US$7 to $8 billion of investment is required in the cell manufacturing industry over the next 5 years, and at least US$50 to $70 billion of investment is required in the next 10 years, to build manufacturing capacity to meet the needs of the battery manufacturing.

Also read related article: Top electric vehicles battery manufacturers in India

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