Battery cells will become the “new oil” as transportation shifts from internal-combustion engines to electric vehicles, making domestic cell technology critical to India’s energy security, JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal said. India depends heavily on imported crude oil to power its transport sector. Electrification can reduce that exposure, but it could also create a fresh dependence on imported battery cells and critical raw materials.
“For India, it is very essential because the cell is going to be the new oil,” Jindal told reporters. “Therefore, we have to produce that cell, and it can be done.”
JSW Group working on local battery-cell technology
His comments came as JSW Greentech launched Ampstar, its electric commercial vehicle brand, and showcased a 55-tonne electric tractor-trailer and an electric bus.
The vehicles have been developed on an architecture that JSW Greentech says it controls, but their battery cells will initially be imported. The company will assemble battery packs at its new manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra.
Jindal said another arm of JSW Group is working on developing battery-cell technology, although creating an indigenous alternative will take time. “We are already working on developing that cell technology, which will take, if we are lucky, one year, maybe two years for sure,” he said.
The group is examining different battery chemistries, including lithium-ion and sodium-ion. Jindal acknowledged that China has built a significant technology and manufacturing lead in this area and that access to cell know-how remains limited.
“The technology is a very closely guarded secret of China,” he said. “They are ready to supply the cells, but they are not giving us the know-how. It is okay. We will find a solution.”
Energy-security is imperative
Jindal’s argument is that India’s transition to electric mobility must be accompanied by domestic production of the technologies that account for a large part of an electric vehicle’s cost and strategic value.
“If we do not change our way of mobility, we will continue to bring fuel oil from all over the world,” he said. “As the country becomes more progressive, more transportation will happen and more movement of goods will take place. It will only increase.”
Building control over technology
JSW Greentech plans to retain control over the vehicle architecture, software, battery-pack design and vehicle-control unit while working with suppliers for individual systems and components.
The company will initially source cells from China and undertake cell-to-pack assembly in India. Its Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar plant will house battery-pack operations alongside electric truck and bus manufacturing.
Of JSW Greentech’s first 100 employees, 88 were hired for research and development. The company said it has developed its vehicle-control unit and source code in India and does not pay royalty or technology-transfer fees for its core vehicle architecture.
“Unless we do R&D and develop our own technologies for the automobile industry, we will remain a follower and not a leader,” he said. He acknowledged that JSW may initially have to learn from technologies already developed in China rather than immediately produce a breakthrough of its own.
“I am being very practical,” Jindal said. “First, let us establish whatever is happening in China, which is a leader in electric mobility. Let us catch up with them on the technology front. Then we take a leap forward.”
For JSW, domestic battery-pack assembly is the immediate step. Developing the cell itself will determine how much of the electric mobility value chain can ultimately be localised in India.