UK sodium-ion battery maker Faradion has announced plans to target India’s commercial vehicles market through a partnership with Infraprime Logistics Technologies.
The partnership to supply batteries for use in India’s IPLTech’s heavy goods vehicle fleet marks Faradion’s entry into the electric vehicle market.
India’s government has set a target of 30% electric vehicle adoption by 2030, and has allocated $1.4 trillion for infrastructure to be invested by 2025 (the UK has set aside $35 billion and the US $500 billion in the same period).
Faradion’s sodium-ion technology replaces materials such as cobalt and lithium with sodium.
Both firms have looked at a five year plan and expect to be working together in a longer term relationship.
James Quinn, CEO, Faradion, told BEST that the capacity/number of batteries due to be delivered through partnership was confidential however, he did anticipate “significant volumes”.
He said: “Sodium-ion is a great fit in this application for reasons of cost, performance and safety. It is not generally known that sodium-ion batteries can be discharged to zero volts, unlike lithium-ion cells. This means that the installation and maintenance of the large battery into the chassis can be accomplished more easily with less risk to the installation and maintenance engineers.”
Faradion has seen significant interest in several markets, including the US, Europe and Australia due to its performance, safety and price point.
Earlier this year Faradion announced an order from ICM Australia. The company is preparing to ship its first order for a “large number” of 40Ah cells to Australia.
