|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), S Krishnan, observed the unveiling of the indigenously developed 2KW DC Portable Charger. It was created by the Centre of Excellence in Electric Transportation at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) Research Park, aimed at promoting the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
The launch marks a significant step in supporting MeitY’s aim to accelerate the widespread use of EVs in the country while reducing its reliance on imported charging solutions. At present, a considerable portion of portable chargers used by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are imported and come pre-programmed, which means they cannot be customised in terms of voltage and current settings. The thermal and mechanical design are crucial factors in ensuring the chargers’ reliable performance.
To tackle this issue and boost domestic manufacturing, the 2KW charger was conceived and created by IIT-Madras, in collaboration with an industrial partner, with financial support from MeitY. The chargers have an efficiency exceeding 95% and can function in temperatures up to 50°C. They are equipped with an in-built EMI/EMC filter and come with safety features like overload, over-voltage, and reverse polarity protection.
The chargers comply with the safety standard IEC 60950-11. Furthermore, their design incorporates an optional feature to communicate with batteries for adaptive charging based on battery requirements. They include hooks for IoT integration to facilitate the real-time tracking of charging-related parameters.
Power output settings can be customised based on the volume of the manufacturing to suit the needs of different EV manufacturers. Achieving successful large-scale manufacturing of this technology could make a substantial impact on the portable charger market.
Secretary Krishnan expressed that, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the World,’ advancing technology indigenisation and industry collaboration is key. He noted India’s transformation from an importing nation to an exporting nation and emphasised that such innovation and collaboration would contribute to realising the goal of ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ (Self-reliant India).
Promoting design in India will drive the development of domestic intellectual property and bolster the startup ecosystem in the nation. Krishnan also highlighted that the IIT-Madras Research Park has achieved international recognition as a dynamic and innovative entity, continuously fostering and championing new initiatives.
India has established an ambitious objective to raise the percentage of EV sales to 30% for private cars, 70% for commercial vehicles, 40% for buses, and 80% for two-wheelers and three-wheelers by the year 2030. This means there could be 80 million EVs on Indian roads by 2030.
The size of the EV market in the country is expected to expand significantly, with projections indicating growth from US$ 3.21 billion in 2022 to US$ 113.99 billion by 2029, demonstrating a compound annual growth rate of 66.52%.
This year, India surpassed one million EV sales in under nine months, whereas it took an entire year to achieve this milestone in 2022. Information from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways reveals that these EV registrations constituted 6.4% of the overall automobile sales in the nation. In 2023, the largest share of EV sales, totalling 56%, was in the two-wheeler segment, with three-wheelers and passenger vehicles following closely behind.
