The news has taken its toll recently, electric scooters are on fire not just in Pune but also in Tamil Nadu. One of the biggest electric scooter brands, Ola failed to create the basic trust among the consumer with their electric batteries.
People are dying unnaturally when they plug in their batteries at the night to charge. Are you willing to take the risk when it comes to your life? Is this something every consumer is asking before purchasing any E-Scooters?
As per the Mordor Intelligence study, the market value of the electric vehicle is at USD 1434.04 billion in 2021, and in 2027, it is expected to be USD 15397.19 billion. Reportedly a CAGR of 47.09% during the period of (2022-2027).
But, the nascent stage of the battery-driven vehicles is not finding the right balance to connect with a needed sentiment.
In India, the major lithium deposits have been discovered in Karnataka’s Mandya district as well as exploration has been continued in Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Rajasthan.
Most of the lithium-ion batteries are being supplied from China (approximately 60%), Japan (17%), and Korea (15%). The biggest resources of Lithium are available in China, South America, and Australia.
The reasons for the massacres have been reported due to high-temperature variance, dust, and humidity, vibrations due to terrain, water, high rate of charging and discharging.
But the main three basic reasons cited for such problems are the fault in mechanical problems, thermal issues, and electrical short circuits.
The mechanical challenges in the battery are due to poor fittings, bad design of the vehicles, and battery packs loosely fitted or jammed into small spaces resulting in moving shocks.
- Due to the defects in the internal architecture of the battery, a short circuit is a major problem.
- The heating up is mainly caused due to compromising the lack of space & thermal foam packings for the tensed batteries.
- Usually, the battery packs are provided with thermal pads/ thermal management to endure a heating level of 60 degrees but if it is missing or fitted improperly then the accidents are inevitable.
- The use of wrong chargers or unpaired batteries also caused electrical short circuits.
As it can clear out, if you don’t have a good mechanical knowledge person handling the E-scooters production line, it will result in a massive massacre. The fundamentals need to be taken care of sincerely to fit with the stylish designs of the E-scooters.
It has been stated, that 2-3 years are required for India to become a self-sufficient battery production company to deal with the price parity. But the manufacturers need to follow a stringent check on the quality of the imported batteries for each of the E-Scooters before it reaches the customers.
The other alternatives such as Sodium-ion batteries or solid-state batteries are also been looked forward to. The Indian government also introduces incentives through the PLI scheme (Production linked initiative) for cell manufacturers, such as the ‘Center for Battery Research’.
In my opinion, that will be the best solution where the collective brains are just focusing on providing better solutions for the usage of battery considering the cost, weight, dimensions, and the life long reliability.
It also opens doors for research scientists to find alternative solutions and just depend on the Li-ion batteries. The handling of the cost, temperature, and importance of thermal cooling pads or measures to counteract the overheating issues.
Source:- The EV times