Localisation of EV powertrain – Correct enforcement of FAME 2 compliance needed

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This article was first published in EVreporter August 2021 magazine.

Localisation of the Electric Vehicle supply chain has been a matter of consideration for the government and the industry for a couple of years now. Bala Pachyappa – Advisor at EMF Innovations, presents his views on the current status of local manufacturing for electric vehicle motors and controllers as well as the issues that need to be addressed to expedite indigenous manufacturing.

Current motor localisation scenario in India

– Many players have started producing Motors and Drives (controllers) for e-mobility applications from 2 wheelers up to Light Commercial Vehicles or motor rated power below 25kW.

– This segment is mostly dominated by PMBLDC (Permanent Magnet Brush Less DC), IPM (Interior Permanent Magnet) or PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors), which need rare earth material-based Neodymium magnets. Such manufacturers very much appreciate the reduction of import duty on Neodymium Magnet import to 2.5%.

– Both new and legacy players such as Bosch, SEG, Hella, EMF Innovations, Physics Motors, Altigreen, Lucas TVS, Sona Comstar, Mahle, Varroc etc., have made investments and started production of motors for the light vehicles segment.

– High power motor design and local production is still not in place.

Issues and needs for localization of motors

– Low Volume in the case of 2-wheeler hub motors – The current volume does not justify investment in the stator core with the central holder and slinky process for different power motors.

– Lack of government incentives – No direct government incentives to support local motor and controller manufacturers. This puts them at a price disadvantage against the imported motors.

– The gap in FAME 2 compliance enforcement – Some OEMs claim FAME II subsidy through the indirect import of motors and controllers through other companies, use their invoice to show they have localized the part as a piece of evidence to qualify for the FAME subsidy, thus hurting the interests of local powertrain manufacturers.

If the Government compares the total Neodymium magnets imported against the vehicle subsidy motor count, it can arrive at the details of all the violators. This is the worst way of sending Indian taxpayers money abroad. The Chinese exporters of motors and controllers get 13% credit which is passed to the importers here – this also affects the competitiveness of the local manufacturers. The government needs to come out with a way to compensate for this lowering of Chinese motors price, and in the worst case, look at antidumping on these products.

Current low power drive localisation scenario

Many startups are providing drives for 2-Wheeler and 3-Wheeler applications, mainly for PMBLDC Motors. Players such as C-Electric, Deltron/CDIL, EMF Innovations, Sterling Gtake, have their own solutions for BLDC Hub and Mid Shaft Motors.

Most of them are climbing the ladder to provide Drives for BLDC Motors more than 6KW Midway or Inner Rotor Motors. In the case of hub motors, drive makers are supplying up to 1.5KW. With the increase in volume, expected market growth and their respective investment criteria, we can expect these companies to cover the whole range of drives for all types of High-Speed Scooters and Motorcycles going forward.

Also Read – Role of motor controller in an EV and why India has been relying on imports

Issues and needs of localisation of low power drives

Compliance tests such as EMC/EMI and others are costly and need to be done in specific labs or labs in different cities. Therefore, financial assistance in any form will be a great help to these startups; it will motivate them to do more compliance tests.

Current high power drive localisation scenario

We don’t have enough design companies to design or manufacture drives locally. Most of the drives for high power motors such as SRM (Switched Reluctance Motors), SynRM (Synchronous Reluctance Motors) or PMSM are supplied by multinational giants such as SEG, Bosch, Hella, Curtis, and so on or by direct import from other countries. Mostly the drives provided by these multinational companies are just assembled in India or directly imported and sold.

Issues and needs of localisation of High-Power Drives

Lack of full local product or application development activities are indirectly holding up localization of High-power Drives. Other issues to be addressed are:

Lack of talent – Lack of Power Electronics Design Engineers, Converter Design Engineers, Embedded Software Engineers is the biggest hindrance in domestic product development and subsequent manufacturing.

Low business volume – Meager business volume is holding up the investment decisions in high power drive design and manufacturing.

A high quantum of investment – Deters startups from making investments, while the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme does not help startups with the initial Investments. Thus, making it only big players’ game.

What are some of the key changes in EV powertrain technology we can expect to become mainstream going forward?

Continued demand for better efficiency, improved power and torque density, and local sourcing will influence the advancement in powertrain technologies. Some of the trends we can expect in the near future are:

– Magnet based to magnetless motors

– Radial Flux Motor to Axial Flux Motor or even to Transversal Flux Motors

– Sensor-based to sensorless positioning

– From centralized/single powertrain solution to distributed power/multiple powertrains in the same application

– Changes in control topologies from trapezoidal to sinusoidal/FOC

– Almost Noiseless Drives

– Efficiency demand of beyond 90%

– Least thermal impact powertrain, high current-carrying and thermally efficient power electronics devices

– Completely connected and integrated motor/powertrain

– Changes based on evolving power electronics components such as Silicon Carbide Devices, Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Devices, Integrated wireless connectivity

Recommendations for building indigenous technical capabilities

Given multiple technological confluences, rapid improvements, continued changes, and software dominance in design and products, industry players are waiting for technology maturity, a continuously changing goal post. In the ever-changing landscape of technology, the creation of new technology and productizing the same needs lots of continued support.

Government support

– Establish easily accessible, cost-effective compliance and validation test centres

– Support in renting or leasing the test equipment, manufacturing equipment and process automation support

– Ease funding availability or provide long term loans at low interest for the tools, jigs, moulds which are needed for cost-effective manufacturing

– Reimbursement or Incentive programs for next-generation technology development Support for Talent & Skill Development.

What can the industry do – Industry representatives can share tooling and/or manufacturing setup with their competitors or even co-own & co-invest to build the overall ecosystem.