[TusharK]

According to a media report, the Tata Group is investing Rs. 4,000 crore in a lithium-ion battery plant. The new factory is likely to come up in the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) in Gujarat.



It has been reported that the company has procured 126 acres of land and will be investing Rs. 1,000 crore in the first phase. The plant is expected to have a manufacturing capacity of 10 GW.

In the Union Budget for 2019, the government announced that battery manufacturing would be incentivised. Incentives are expected to be offered on manufacturing capacities up to 50 GW.

Source: Economic Times

Link to Team-BHP News

[sgiitk]

Fantastic news. Tata do not play speculative games. In fact many consider them conservative. However, if they set up a 4,000 crore Liion battery plant, it is a serious commitment. Also, one can be confident the quality of the output will be first rate. This is a good sign for EVs in India.

[racer_ash]

Great news. And a welcome one at that. Looking at the number of news and threads on EVs on T-BHP itself, I am sure we are in for a disruption soon.

Does anyone know how the factory capacity translates to the number of battery packs manufactured? Assuming a Kona batter pack of 39KWh, how many such battery packs would a 10GW factory produce?

Also assuming that 10GW is the annual capacity?

[sri_tesla]

It will be definitely a game changer if this news is true. 10 GWh manufacturing capacity is enough to make all TATA cars electric. In 2018, TATA sold 2,10,143 (2.1 lakh) cars in India. Assuming each car has same battery capacity as Hyundai Kona (42 kWh), then 10 GWh means 2.38 lakh electric cars each year (10,000,000,000 / 42,000).

Proper units/terms to be used for battery capacity:

• Battery capacity should be measured in terms of energy. kWh is a unit of energy, whilst kW is a measure of power. 1 kWh is 1 unit. It is same as the units that we get on our electricity bills.

• ET article and govt representatives are wrongly reporting the battery capacities. It should be GWh not GW. In this case, the plant by TATA is expected to have 10 GWh of battery capacity per year.

• Hyundai Kona electric released in India has 42 kWh battery (39.2 usable capacity).

• 50 GWh capacity (for which govt want to give incentives), can produce ~1.2 million Hyundai Konas. That's almost half of annual car sales in India.

M&M also recently said, they are open to partnership with global player for lithium-ion cell manufacturing operation in India. Hyundai also evaluating the prospect of setting up a lithium ion battery manufacturing unit.

Fun fact: China has setup 30 GWh of EV battery capacity in the first half (Jan-June) of 2019. Another 30 GWh of capacity set to be completed by end of 2019 resulting in 60 GWh of new battery capacity in 2019. 6.17 lakh EVs sold in China in first half of 2019 with 50% growth over 2018. 80% of them are full-electric (56% growth) while rest are plug-in hybrids.

[samaspire]

But, is lithium ion the only mass market technology going forward? Is there nothing that's better, smaller and safer? And cheaper?

Whatever happened to cold fusion?

[superbad]

Originally Posted by samaspire

But, is lithium ion the only mass market technology going forward? Is there nothing that's better, smaller and safer? And cheaper?

Whatever happened to cold fusion?

I believe Tony Stark is putting the finishing touches to it.

[NaXal]

What's the cost of lithium import?

I guess apart from South American big 3, there isn't any lithium source for the whole world.

Any progress towards finding lithium domestically?

[saket77]

There are two ways to go about it- either you crib like Bajaj or you identify the opportunity early. Well done Tata

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

It will be definitely a game changer if this news is true. 10 GWh manufacturing capacity is enough to make all TATA cars electric.

Note that this is a Tata "Group" venture. Tata Power is most likely to invest in this plant because they have expressed interest in such venture many times before. So this plant is going to cater to all EV manufacturers - not just Tata Motors.

Originally Posted by NaXal

What's the cost of lithium import? I guess apart from South American big 3, there isn't any lithium source for the whole world. Any progress towards finding lithium domestically?

Tata Chemicals is most likely to explore and source raw materials like lithium and cobalt from Bolivia
https://www.livemint.com/Industry/0M...etite-for.html

Known lithium reserves in the world:

[Mortis]

I'm surprised though that Panasonic India doesn't seem to have near term plans to setup a battery manufacturing plant for vehicles and other applications. They are at the forefront of this technology and gained a lot of experience working with Tesla. Also the important fact is that they already have a battery manufacturing setup having purchased Novino Gold quite a few years ago

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Note that this is a Tata "Group" venture. Tata Power is most likely to invest in this plant because they have expressed interest in such venture many times before. So this plant is going to cater to all EV manufacturers - not just Tata Motors.



Tata Chemicals is most likely to explore and source raw materials like lithium and cobalt from Bolivia
https://www.livemint.com/Industry/0M...etite-for.html

Known lithium reserves in the world:

Attachment 1893411

As usual we are no where in the list when it comes to natural resources. This means just like petrol , there will be a cabal of nations which would control the market according to their whims.

I wanted to understand , in simple layman terms whats so special about the Li Ion technology?.

[DrCar]

Before a giant leap in the battery capacities of electric vehicles, a major breakthrough will be achieved in battery performance in a mobile phone.

Something where a phone will keep running constantly for a week without needing a charge inspite of it having a lower capacity.

Once this is achieved, we will enter a new era of electric mobility where a lower capacity and a light weight battery can be charged in a super quick time and also give a good range too.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by srini1785

As usual we are no where in the list when it comes to natural resources. This means just like petrol , there will be a cabal of nations which would control the market according to their whims.

I wanted to understand , in simple layman terms whats so special about the Li Ion technology?.

Well, petrol or diesel has to be imported every day to run your vehicle. In this case, you import to make a battery and then use it for 10 plus years. You can see how much better this would be. Electricity to charge the battery is produced in India and can even be free if we use renewable sources.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

Well, petrol or diesel has to be imported every day to run your vehicle. In this case, you import to make a battery and then use it for 10 plus years. You can see how much better this would be.

Best analogy for this would be using disposable plastic glass vs steel glass for drinking water.

People seem to worry about battery waste after their end of life. But the fact is, EV batteries retain more than 70% of their capacity after 10 years. These can be used in homes for another 15 years as inverters during night time for distributed rooftop solar or utility solar (DISCOMS). After 25 years, over 80% of these battery materials can be recycled with the current technologies.

https://www.fortum.com/products-and-...cling-solution

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by samaspire

But, is lithium ion the only mass market technology going forward? Is there nothing that's better, smaller and safer? And cheaper?

Whatever happened to cold fusion?

Cold fusion is the pie in the sky.

Smaller, remember Lithium is element No.3 after H and He. Also, as I have mentioned in the main EV thread, Li is a very small fraction of the weight of active terminals (being lighter helps). Talk today is about using electrolyte free batteries. This reduces the volume.