The government is likely to announce key battery safety and performance standards next month, which are expected to play a key role in boosting electric vehicle adoption and reducing pollution, said two senior government officials familiar with the development.
The standards prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards will not include regulations on dimensions and shape of batteries, given concerns raised by the industry that mandating dimensions will stifle innovation.
“The standards have been finalized and are expected to be released next month. Some minimum standards, called horizontal standards, have been made to ensure safety. To avoid substandard batteries, a certain minimum shelf life has also been fixed. has been done,” said one of the two officials, requesting anonymity.
Regarding the decision on battery dimensions, the official said, “The EV segment is quite new in India. Therefore, fixing the dimensions of a battery will inevitably curtail innovation. Therefore, it has been decided that the standards will be based only on safety and performance and not on dimensions.”
On January 11, Peppermint The government is reconsidering its plan to mandate EV battery dimension and shape standards under its upcoming battery-swapping policy amid concerns raised by industry executives.
On 3 January, the Consumer Affairs Ministry and NITI Aayog met with companies to address their concerns on a uniform battery pack standard, where the standoff over standard sizes continued.
Another official said the industry is looking at developing new chemicals other than lithium-ion batteries, which are the most commonly available EV batteries currently.
The official, requesting anonymity, said the Center is not mandating the dimensions considering the scope for further innovation.
“There are issues with the industry as well. The EV market is huge, but research is not up to the mark. The batteries that are being talked about currently are lithium batteries. And China is the largest manufacturer of lithium-based batteries. They have invested heavily in it, and it is a limited resource. Policies can push the technology, but the technology itself has to be robust enough to meet the huge demand in India,” said the second official.
A production linked incentive scheme is already operational to develop new battery chemistries in the country.
Queries sent to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs remained unanswered till press time.
Initially, the Center plans to come out with standards for size and shape of batteries along with safety and performance in view of the battery swapping policy, which is expected to be released soon.
NITI Aayog had released the draft policy in April last year after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to come out with the policy in her budget speech for FY23.
The draft policy said: “Additional standards and specifications for batteries with respect to battery pack dimensions, charging connectors, etc. will be notified in due course of time with adequate notice, and in consultation with industry stakeholders, so that the ecosystem to support a phased transition to spacing between ,
The new standards for safety and performance will come as another major effort towards bringing in safety norms to prevent EV fires. Following several incidents of electric two-wheeler batteries catching fire, the road transport ministry introduced additional provisions in the safety standards for EV battery packs.
The new AIS-038 (for four-wheelers) and AIS-156 (two-wheelers and three-wheelers) standards were introduced by the ministry under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.
After this, the Ministry of Heavy Industries made separate rules on human safety, which are to be implemented by 1 April.
catch ’em all politics news And updates on Live Mint. download mint news app to receive daily market update & stay business News,