As the petrol and diesel prices are gaining to reach the highest levels in India, providers of eco-friendly motoring in the form of electric vehicles are shoving to the wheel of green mobility. The fresh development on this front comes from Indian city Bangalore-based Mahindra Electric.
Mahindra Electric is testing out a new form of energy source on its popular three-wheeler Treo, i.e. Aluminium-air batteries. The metal-air batteries are considered to be equal in the performance of traditional fuel. It can be refilled in just 5 minutes, require light-infrastructure, are weather-proof and most importantly lower the cost of EVs.
In February 2020, Indian Oil (IOCL), the country’s leading oil marketing company, signed its partnership with Israel-based Phinergy to manufacture Aluminium-air batteries for EVs.
Sanjeev Kumar Singla, the Indian Ambassador to Israel, reviewed the progress on the MoU signed by IOCL and Phinergy, while with an update on this front, the partners have declared that they have been progressing well and in fact, have on-boarded Mahindra Electric to test out the Aluminium-air batteries. IOCL has supported to develop the e-mobility product by Phinergy for Mahindra Electric.
However, there hasn’t been any the tentative timeline announced towards the launch of the product, but one thing is for sure –Aluminium-air batteries are considered a promising technology, which can do away with the long-charging time requirement, as well as the need for expensive lithium cell tech.
Phinergy’s aluminium-air technology is said to enable easy storage, transport and discharging of clean energy around the world. Its aluminium-air systems produce energy by combining aluminium, oxygen, and water. Oxygen is a key reactant releasing energy from metal. Unlike conventional batteries that carry oxygen within a heavy electrode, metal-air energy systems freely breathe oxygen from ambient air, making the systems significantly lighter. The company’s air-electrode technology has enabled it to master the metal-air reaction process and develop an aluminium-air system with a lifespan of thousands of working hours, relieving the main constraints of electric transportation and clean distributed generation.
Indian commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland too has a partnership with Phinergy, which indicates, if the technology matures, India could expect to see heavy-duty commercial vehicles getting electrified too.
Responses
