Two former Ola Electric employees have now proposed a potential fix for the fire-related problems in Indiabattery. Ex-Ola Electric employees started the Bangalore-based startup EMO Energy, which says it has developed a new battery technology that resists fires and also lengthens battery life. The founders claim that the new battery technology, which is soon to be patented, has been put through three months of testing to confirm that it meets all fire safety requirements.
Recent years have seen an increase in the number of EV-related fires. Many different brands of EVs have caught fire due to issues that were later determined to be battery-related.
Recently, a short circuit in an electric vehicle showroom in Telangana State caused a fire that claimed the lives of eight people.
Rahul Patel and Sheetanshu Tyagi‘s Bangalore-based EV startup, EMO, may have the answer to battery fires. While the founders had previously worked for Ola Electric in the battery division, Patel has also held positions with Sun Mobility in the thermal engineering division, and Tyagi has held positions with Ather Energy in the design and manufacturing division.
Their updated design includes a unique fluid that disperses and absorbs heat throughout the battery pack. In order to patent this fluid, the team is currently waiting. This system is combined with a battery management system (BMS) based on machine learning (ML), which considers the different battery cells, their temperatures, statuses, etc.
EMO anticipates obtaining patents for the BMS, the overall battery design, and the pumping system. EMO’s claim hasn’t yet been validated, though. Notably, the company claims it can offer guarantees despite having only tested 30 units.
“The whole battery is engulfed in a special non-conductive and energy absorbing semi-solid fluid. We’ve patented that and developed it with some chemical labs in India. Then we’ve developed our own electronic system within it, which circulates the heat across the pack. So, if one of the cells inside the pack starts heating up, this whole system will go into overdrive, take the heat out from there and distribute it everywhere else,” said Tyagi.
According to Tyagi, most manufacturers use less expensive cells, and issues like design flaws and poor quality inevitably expose the battery packs to fire risk.
Tyagi added, “The global situation is at a point where you wouldn’t even feel it if a cell inside the pack caught fire. You wouldn’t even know if a Tesla cell within their pack is catching fire, they’ve designed their entire system around it”.
EMOs BMS also gathers information on the voltage, temperature, and electricity that battery cells experience and incorporates it into an IoT system to enable advanced analytics. Tyagi says that by applying tasks to an ML-based model with the help of the data points it gathers, their system will be able to predict battery temperatures.
Currently, EMO will focus on the two- and three-wheeler EV segments, with future expansion plans including trucks and four-wheelers. The business also intends to equip its batteries with fast charging technology in the future. In the future, EMO might also serve as a stand-alone supplier to OEMs and battery swap companies.
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