Cell Propulsion Launches Li-ion Battery Facility in Bengaluru

Bengaluru-based mobility and EV technology startup Cell Propulsion has launched its pilot production line for Li-ion batteries at a facility which has a maximum output of 500kWh/month. The cells will be used in the company’s in-house light commercial electric vehicles.

Founded by Nakul Kumar (CEO & Co-founder), Paras Kaushal (COO & Co-founder), and Supratim Nuskar (CTO), who are all former ISRO engineers, Cell Propulsion is currently engaged in fleet management of electric vehicles. The company deploys these vehicles as part of a fully managed solution to make the adoption of eCVs by logistics and transportation company completely seamless. According to the firm, batteries of LCVs have a very different design problem compared to the design of battery packs for passenger vehicles or light vehicles.

The company’s investors include venture capital fund Endiya, seed funding companies Micelio and Sangam, and Gujarat-based NGO CIIE.

Cell Propulsion claims that it has successfully engineered a reliable system for the purposes of both light and heavy commercial vehicles, which is modular, robust and has simple implementation.

Further, the company has employed novel design approaches to develop battery systems that will consider safety, thermal performance, structural loads, power delivery and modularity. The battery management system designed by Cell Propulsion implements proprietary algorithms for state estimation of battery packs – typically for charge and health.

The company considers the commissioning of its pilot line for producing automotive-grade (AIS-48 certified) battery packs to be a major milestone in the journey to deploy leading eLCVs for its customers. This launch comes after Cell Propulsion raised $2 million in June 2021 from a clutch of private equity investors, including Endiya Partners, GrowX Ventures, Huddle Accelerator and Micelio. Last September, the company had also raised $1 million in a pre-series A round of fundraising.

With aims to bring about large-scale electrification of commercial vehicle fleets using smart, electric mobility technologies, the company’s motto is “Zero Emissions, Zero noise, Zero congestion, Zero accidents.”