The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the State public sector undertaking Travancore Titanium Products (TTPL) have developed a lithium titanate (LTO) prototype battery which could prove a big step forward for the e-mobility programme.
The development has been made possible under the Electric Vehicles Development and Management Consortium anchored by the Kerala Development and innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC).
LTO batteries offer faster charging and enhanced safety, two key requirements for the growth of e-mobility, S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, VSSC, told The Hindu. The prototype battery would be formally unveiled at the Secretariat on Wednesday at a function to be attended by Minister for Industries P. Rajeeve.
While LTO batteries are in use in the e-mobility sector, what makes the present development special is that it makes use of raw material and technical expertise which are available at hand. As a member of the consortium, the Thiruvananthapuram-based TTPL supplied the raw material lithium titanate (Li2TiO3), a new-generation anode component for fast-recharging lithium titanate batteries, Georgee Ninan, Managing Director, TTPL, said.
Greener option
The LTO battery is also a greener option compared to batteries in use at present, according to K-DISC. ‘‘Kerala has the raw material and the expertise available locally to build the capability to develop efficient batteries for e-mobility,’‘ said Ashok Kumar A., consultant, Electric Vehicle Project, KDISC.
The EV consortium, which formally came into existence in November 2021, has as its partners K-DISC, VSSC, TTPL, the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Thiruvananthapuram, and the Trivandrum Engineering Science and Technology (TrEST) Research Park. C-DAC is responsible for the development of power electronic systems for the battery, while the TrEST Research Park handles the design and development of motors and controllers for EV applications.
The consortium was formed with the aim of promoting indigenous production of EV components and subsystems for driving e-mobility in the State.
