According to Inc 42, Indian online daily news, after picking up a stake in Israel-based battery developer Phinergy last month, state-run Indian Oil Corporation is now looking to set up a factory for aluminium-air batteries for electric vehicles in India. For this, Indian Oil Corporation, along with Phinergy, is in talks with several governments as well.
R Sravan S Rao, executive director and state head of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at Indian Oil, said that India already has natural aluminium reserves and its extraction and recycling technologies are also established. He believes that aluminium-air batteries can be a “suitable alternative” to the currently used lithium-based batteries.
“We are looking to set up a factory in India to manufacture aluminium-air batteries for electric vehicles and stationary applications and facilitate the development of eco-system for aluminium-air technology-based batteries,” Rao added.
Although the location for the factory has not yet been announced officially, a report in the Financial Express journal suggested that the factory will likely be in Chennai.
Indian Oil Corporation had first announced its plans to produce such metal-air batteries in October 2019. Sanjiv Singh, chairman of Indian Oil, highlighted that the batteries cannot be recharged but can be replaced “almost instantly, making it much more convenient for users, thereby eliminating the need for charging infrastructure.”