Zinc–air Battery Technology By IIT Madras Hopes to Challenge Lithium-Ion ones

Researchers at IIT Madras are in the process of developing a new kind of zinc – air battery technology for electric vehicles that can prove to be a strong alternative to lithium-ion ones. A key feature of the zinc – air battery is that it could be charged mechanically. However, actual details of the technology and innovations involved in the development so far are not yet available.

The researchers have also filed for patents and also partnering with the major industries for orderly development of this zinc – air battery technology. The zinc – air battery is also cheaper and has longer shelf life when compared with the lithium-ion batteries.

The electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers are the ones that can employ the zinc – air battery technology. Dr. Aravind Kumar Chandiran, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, who is developing the zinc – air battery technology with his group of researchers, holds that their technology will be a ‘futuristic model’ for zinc-air batteries for the electric vehicle industry. He says that the team is presently identifying any shortcomings in the zinc – air battery technology to address them in time.

Dr Chandiran mentions that their technology is moving the zinc – air battery technology from ‘cells’ to ‘pack’ systems. The researchers may also work on developing separate zinc – air battery recharge stations which will be just like any other fuel station where batteries could be swapped where the customers can replace their ‘zinc cassettes.’ Dr Chandiran also says that the team is even thinking of recharging the used cassettes with solar power.

In the zinc charging stations, it is informed that the EV owners will have to spend very little time to swap the zinc – air battery pack. Also, the technology is way cheaper than the lithium-ion batteries because in the lithium ones, the entire owners would need to remove and swap the ‘entire’ battery pack.”

The zinc – air battery technologies can prove to be a great alternative to the lithium which is already a highly scarce resource and the Indian EV industry remains highly dependent on China for the imports of lithium-ion batteries.

Batteries make 40-50 per cent of the cost of electric vehicles in India presently. Hence, experts opine that local technological development and manufacturing is key for faster EV adoption in the country.