IITs develop technology to reduce EV cost by 40%

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IITs develop technology to reduce EV cost by 40%

Researchers from different IITs have developed a new technology for charging Electric Vehicles, which costs about half of the current on-board charger technology and can help reduce the cost of two and four-wheeler electric vehicles. The lab scale development has already been done at the IIT BHU and upgradation and commercialisation is in progress, according to the team.

One of the country's leading electric vehicle manufacturer has also shown interest in this new technology and is ready to develop a full-fledged commercial product that can be applied to existing electric vehicles, the team claimed, despite the fact that it hasn't named the company.

The technology was developed at IIT BHU Varanasi in collaboration with experts from IIT Guwahati and IIT Bhubaneshwar.

The rising prices of petrol and diesel in the country is worrying for the common man. Amid rising costs 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.

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

Singh said that because of this technology, the cost of the onboard charger will be reduced by almost 40 -- 50 pc in comparison to the existing one.

The cost reduction in the charger will reduce the cost of the EV as well. The proposed technology is used to provide low cost technology for EVs.

The technology will be completely indigenous and will have a big impact on driving electric vehicles on Indian roads, he said.

IIT BHU Director Pramod Kumar Jain said that the techno-commercial, social, economic and environmental impact of technology will be positive.

He said that the technology will improve charging infrastructure and support the government's mission to bring electric vehicles on Indian roads.