S Ronendra Singh

New Delhi

Electric two-wheelers manufacturer Hero Electric on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Canada-based battery maker, Electrovaya, to set up a joint venture company to manufacture lithium-ion batteries in India.

“We have signed an MoU with Electrovaya today, which will ultimately become a JV, but it will take six weeks to decide everything about the new company. We will set up a manufacturing plant for lithium-ion batteries through this JV,” Hero Electric managing director Naveen Munjal told reporters in New Delhi.

He said that the company was looking for land to set up a plant somewhere in the northern region of the country, where it could also get some tax benefits from the state. The plant will manufacture lithium-ion batteries with the technical help from Electrovaya for both the domestic and export market. Hero Electric, apart from using these batteries for its own two-wheelers, is also planning to supply them to other

domestic EV manufacturers. The company has also identified Saarc countries and Canada as key markets for the export of these

batteries.

Electrovaya chief executive officer Sankar Das Gupta said that the main purpose of the partnership was to accelerate clean transportation as a commercial reality with its advanced power systems for all classes of zero-emission electric vehicles. “The JV with Hero Electric will certainly boost this effort in India and both the companies would work on moving from lead acid batteries to lithium-ion batteries,” he added.

The entire process of setting up the plant and starting production will take around nine months following the establishment of the joint venture that is likely to materialise in the next six weeks. “Although we are not looking at a big plant yet our investment would be anything between $10 million to $300 million, depending on the final project size,” Gupta said.

The traditional lead acid batteries have very limited lifecycle with only up to 300 charges, while a lithium-ion battery can be re-charged around 1500-1800 times in its lifetime at a marginal cost. “It is a one time investment and a vehicle can run for at least five years with a single battery,” Hero Electric CEO Sohinder Gill said. He added, “Also, the mileage efficiency is better since the EV can run more kilometres on a single charge (up to 45 km) as compared to only 25-30 km of lead acid batteries.”

ronendrasingh

@mydigitalfc.com