[NavtejS]

Greetings to all! This would be my first new topic post on team bhp. Kindly merge if any similar thread exists.

I happen to see a very chic electric urban truck doing duty in Chandigarh - Mohali, Punjab area. I had been seeing it quite often but could not see a familiar logo. Took some time out and googled about it. Found out that it is a relatively new company founded in 2014 and making electric last mile delivery trucks called EVage FR8.


Source - evagemotors.com

They claim to charge the vehicle in 20 mins to 100% and can be run for 100km. They have been granted 25+ patents!

They are using space grade aluminium for construction.
They have a JV 60-40 with DGinnovate run by ex executives of Tesla. The electric motors give 98.5% efficiency.

Battery - can be used for a million miles with nil chances of fire. This is due to some LTO chemistry they are using.

Attaching the brochure for the same.

Source- evagemotors.com

I would like to ask if it is actually worth the hype about 20 mins charging ? Tesla can also charge in 15 mins for 200 miles.

Does someone know about the charger they are using ? What if it is a really high power charger not easily available at charging stations?


Disclaimer - All facts are taken from their website - https://evagemotors.com/

[T-Bone]

Originally Posted by NavtejS

Greetings to all! This would be my first new topic post on team bhp. Kindly merge if any similar thread exists.

I happen to see a very chic electric urban truck doing duty in Chandigarh - Mohali, Punjab area. I had been seeing it quite often but could not see a familiar logo. Took some time out and googled about it. Found out that it is a relatively new company founded in 2014 and making electric last mile delivery trucks called EVage FR8.

Attachment 2628162
Source - evagemotors.com

They claim to charge the vehicle in 20 mins to 100% and can be run for 100km. They have been granted 25+ patents!

They are using space grade aluminium for construction.
They have a JV 60-40 with DGinnovate run by ex executives of Tesla. The electric motors give 98.5% efficiency.

Battery - can be used for a million miles with nil chances of fire. This is due to some LTO chemistry they are using.

Attaching the brochure for the same.

Attachment 2628163 Source- evagemotors.com

I would like to ask if it is actually worth the hype about 20 mins charging ? Tesla can also charge in 15 mins for 200 miles.

Does someone know about the charger they are using ? What if it is a really high power charger not easily available at charging stations?


Disclaimer - All facts are taken from their website - https://evagemotors.com/

Dear Navtej,

LTO (lithium-titanium-oxide), also called as lithium-titanate has been in research for a long time. Based on all the internet knowledge () that I got about the LTO battery, it is its size which is the issue. Size is practically not very viable for daily drives (smaller private vehicles) and I guess that is one of the reason it is being used only on commercial vehicles, that to in small numbers.

Anyways, coming to battery itself, yes LTO is a very stable chemistry. The reason for super fast charging is because of the titanium-oxide structure has a large surface area due to which electrons are able to enter and leave the anode much more rapidly, leading to fast recharging and enhanced life of the battery.

[travelling owl]

Fast charging capabilities is more due to battery tech and less of charger capabilities. LTO used here has high C rates, for both charging and discharging. It is also quite expensive, that is why its used mainly in marine ecosystem (high discharge rates needed) or in defence (for its sub zero capabilities). Both these sectors are less cost sensitive comparatively. Off-course in line with charging capabilities of LTO, charger also needs to have higher capacity, otherwise this feature is of no use.

[DIY410]

The nominal voltage of LTO battery is low, it's fully charged voltage is nearly half of a fully charged NMC battery. So the volumetric weight will be more.
But this company is using the battery from Toshiba which is the industry leader in LTO and can be recharged to 100% in 20 minutes and a cycle life of upto 20000 cycles under test conditions. So this is great for delivery/transport people. While the truck is being loaded with goods, it's already 100% charged.

[NavtejS]

Originally Posted by T-Bone

Dear Navtej,

LTO (lithium-titanium-oxide), also called as lithium-titanate has been in research for a long time. Based on all the internet knowledge () that I got about the LTO battery, it is its size which is the issue. Size is practically not very viable for daily drives (smaller private vehicles) and I guess that is one of the reason it is being used only on commercial vehicles, that to in small numbers.

Anyways, coming to battery itself, yes LTO is a very stable chemistry. The reason for super fast charging is because of the titanium-oxide structure.

Thanks for the information. How different is it from regular batteries used in Nexon etc. ? Would it be more economical?

[T-Bone]

Originally Posted by NavtejS

Thanks for the information. How different is it from regular batteries used in Nexon etc. ? Would it be more economical?

Dear Navtej,

Tata Nexon uses Lithium Ferro Phosphate technology (also commonly known as LFP or LiFePO4).

More than the economics, I would say the energy density plays a crucial role in battery selection. Below the energy density between commonly used batteries (in vehicles).

NMC - nominal voltage of 3.7V - energy density of about 270 wh/kg
LFP/LiFePO4 - nominal voltage of 3.2V - energy density of about 90-165 wh/kg
LTO - nominal voltage of 2.4 V - energy density of about 30–110 Wh/kg

Clearly NMC batteries have higher energy density which translates to higher range but NMC's are less environmentally friendly, as they use scarce and expensive metals like cobalt and nickel, which have a high environmental and social impact due which they are not used.

LTO, although has the lowest energy density translating to lesser range it makes up with high recharge speeds but still not used in mass market because of higher recharge cycles. That is, you may have to recharge twice as many times than a LFP battery for the same range.

Example, If one needs to recharge LFP batteries TWO times to cover a distance of 500 kms. Then you will need to recharge LTO batteries FOUR times to cover the same distance.

Already we have complaints about recharge stations being crowed or non-functional then imagine you have two as many vehicles waiting to be recharged

LFP have the energy density like best of of both worlds and hence most commonly used.

NOTE: I'm not a battery/chemistry pandith. The above is based on the knowledge that I have got from Google University.

Actual battery/chemistry pandith's in this forum, please pitch in if you feel I need to be corrected.

Thanks & Regards,
T-Bone.