UK-based Faradion partners IPLTech for developing sodium-ion batteries for CVs in India

UK-based Faradion, a leading player in sodium-ion battery technology has partnered Gurgaon-based start-up Infraprime Logistics Technologies (IPLTech) for its high energy sodium-ion batteries for use in commercial vehicles in the Indian market.

It maybe recollected Faradion had bagged first order for sodium-ion batteries from ICM Australia and revealed its plans to set up manufacturing in India in April.

The company says India has demonstrated a growing appetite for moving towards electric commercial vehicles, driven by the government’s target of 30 percent EV adoption by 2030. It has given a significant push to infrastructure by allocating $1.4 trillion (Rs10,361,400 crore) for infrastructure to be invested by 2025, which it says is higher than the UK’s $35 billion (Rs 259,035 crore) and the United States $500 billion (Rs 3,700,500 crore) in the same period. Each day, 40km of highways are constructed in India and the market for roads and highways is projected to grow at an annual rate of 36 percent from now to 2025.

The battery maker says sodium-ion technology provides similar performance to conventional chemistries, while replacing expensive materials such as cobalt and lithium with the far more abundant sodium. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, Faradion claims its sodium-ion batteries have exceptional thermal stability and safety. Further they can be safely transported and maintained at zero volts.

IPLTech is a Gurgaon-based heavy goods vehicle fleet service provider that is halving the cost of infrastructure development. It is doing so through an electric fleet complemented by a data layer that organises thousands of small fleet operators.

Siddhartha Das, executive chairman, IPLTech said, “We are driven to minimise the heavy pollution caused by heavy goods vehicles in India. This partnership with Faradion represents a commitment to work with this world-leading sodium-ion technology together to realise this joint vision. Our full electric mega trucks are the first of their kind to be integrated and deployed in India. We believe that Faradion technology can provide the Indian market with an effective solution at competitive prices.”

Faradion says it has seen significant interest in several markets, including the US, Europe and Australia due to its performance, safety and price point. James Quinn, CEO of Faradion says India was the next logical region for Faradion, given the market conditions.

“Faradion is accelerating large scale industrialisation of its safe, low cost, Sodium-ion energy storage technology. The partnership with IPLTech reflects an important milestone in our commitment to the market and the Prime Minister’s Make in India vision, as we also shortly commence manufacturing in India.”