IIT researchers propose technology to charge electric vehicles at half the current cost

The IIT team revealed that one of the country’s leading electric vehicle manufacturers has already shown interest in the new electric vehicle charging technology.

Through HT automatic office
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Updated:
Jan 23, 2022, 5:25 PM

File photo used for representational purposes only. (Bloomberg)

In an effort to reduce the cost of charging electric vehicles, researchers at various IITs have developed new technology that charges these vehicles at costs that are about half of current in-vehicle charger technology. Lab-scale development has already been done at IIT (BHU), Varanasi, in partnership with experts from IIT Guwahati and IIT Bhubaneshwar.

The IIT team revealed that one of the country’s leading electric vehicle manufacturers has already shown interest in the new technology and is looking to develop a full-fledged commercial product based on it, PTI reported. The full-fledged technology can then be applied to existing EVs from the EV manufacturer.

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The technology is currently in the upgrade phase and its commercialization is also well on its way. “Rising gasoline and diesel prices in the country are worrying for the common man. Amid the rising cost of petroleum products and rising pollution levels, electric vehicles (EVs) are the best alternative to conventional combustion engines,” Rajeev Kumar Singh, Chief Investigator of the project, IIT BHU, told PTI.

He added that, however, due to the lack of high-power off-board charging infrastructure, various automakers are forced to integrate on-board chargers into the vehicle itself. Although EV owners can charge their vehicles through these outlets, this leads to increased costs. While the new technology reduces an additional power electronics interface required for propulsion mode and therefore the components involved are reduced by 50%, the professor explained.

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The proposed charger is reconfigurable and can act as a charger for charging mode and an inverter for propulsion mode,” he added. Thus, the cost of the on-board charger will be reduced by almost 40-50%. “Reducing the cost of the charger also reduces the cost of the EV. In this way, the proposed technology provides low-cost technology for electric vehicles,” Singh said.

Date of first publication: January 23, 2022, 5:25 PM IST

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