Replus designs its own BMS instead of sourcing it. Why was building this capability in-house important, and how does it give you an edge on safety, performance and customisation of the overall system?
The BMS is the heart of the entire battery. How a battery functions over time and over the years depends on how well it is managed. The BMS critically manages all the parameters of a battery and characterises it over time, and when it is configured correctly, it delivers very robust battery performance. That is why maintaining all the critical parameters of a battery is so important.
When we started our journey in battery manufacturing, we saw that a lot of BMS units were coming from the Chinese market. Their hardware and software were not well suited to Indian climatic and environmental conditions because they had not been configured for them.
Secondly, manufacturers had very limited control to carry out troubleshooting, configuration, optimisation or any performance improvements that were needed. When we analysed the market, there was a lot of chaos around BMS, with both management and service issues. Batteries were failing because their battery management systems were not configured for the Indian market. Many failures were happening because of the BMS, and some issues even led to certain standard safety protocols being bypassed, resulting in battery fires.
Taking cues from all of this, we decided this was a capability we needed to own as a company. With grassroots-level BMS development, we can select our own hardware that is agnostic to the different chemistries that will emerge over time. We can carry out all kinds of battery performance tests using the BMS, configure it as per customer requirements, and handle the handshake with the vehicle control unit, which is a major requirement for vehicle batteries.
On the energy storage side, we have multiple layers of BMS, including slave BMS, master BMS and cluster BMS, and all of them need to work in sync with the EMS in large-scale energy storage systems. From the day we started, we categorised our BMS into low voltage, medium voltage and high voltage.
Today, we are proud to say that our low-voltage and medium-voltage systems are in place, and our high-voltage systems are in testing. By the middle of next year, we will have a complete range of BMS, from low-voltage applications up to high-end applications, with completely indigenised software and full cloud monitoring.
That is the need of the hour. You may have seen recent incidents where BMS units sourced from China were easily hackable because there were no safety and security measures in place, and some vehicles even stopped on the road. Then comes the next stage, which could be non-cooperation from suppliers or new demands from them. All of these risks are well known in the market. It is high time that companies beyond Replus also enter this space and build completely indigenised BMS.
Battery safety remains a top concern for EV and storage customers alike. How has the Indian climate impacted your manufacturing, and what testing and validation processes does Replus follow, especially for packs operating in India’s heat and dust?
Currently, BESS systems are imported from China, and there is a gap in understanding Indian climatic conditions.
When we started our journey, we also bought systems available in China and some other developed countries. Those systems were installed, and we were among the few fortunate companies with a good history of gathering data across various environmental conditions. Depending on the charging and discharging conditions and the use case of each battery, we collected a lot of data. All that data has been put to use through extensive simulations.
The first stage is development. During development, we take Indian climatic conditions into account, because as a country we have places where temperatures go above 50 or even 55 degrees, and the BMS needs to perform well in those conditions. At the same time, in the northern parts of the country, temperatures drop to zero or even slightly below. With a climatic band ranging from minus 5 or 10 degrees up to 50 or 55 degrees, this becomes one of the critical factors we build into the prototyping stage.
Next comes understanding the vehicle requirements and the grid-side requirements of large-scale systems, which are two separate domains. A vehicle has a certain set of operating and terrain conditions. When someone buys a vehicle, you cannot restrict where they travel, whether it operates in central India or travels north or south.
Stationary energy storage has a different set of requirements, such as frequency regulation, peak shaving, smoothing the power curve during times of the day when there is excess energy, and managing deficits. Peak demand, frequency and other regulatory issues from the grid side form a separate set of challenges for stationary storage. Handling the requirements of both EV and ESS applications is inherent in the design of our BMS.
All these use cases are simulated in our lab. We have invested a significant amount of our funds in R&D, and rigorous testing takes place before any vehicle is put into use, certified by ARAI or ICAT, or homologated. On the stationary energy storage side, we also certify our battery packs as per IEC and UN standards.
All these stages take place in our lab over a long period. We carry out every check and balance required for the BMS interlocks, along with tests on all battery parameters and performance, before the product goes for certification. Once it is certified and commercially deployed, we collect data back from the field and use it to improve our algorithms to deliver better output in the same environment. This continuous study is ongoing, and that is how we keep implementing improvements into the BMS and bring maturity to our development.
Currently, our low-voltage, medium-voltage and containerised products are certified. On the vehicle side, our batteries for light commercial vehicles, electric buses and trucks are certified and homologated, so a good share of our products is already certified. Going forward, we will focus on improving data security and cloud security, and on ML and AI algorithms that will further enhance BMS functionality.
Electric trucks are being seen as the next frontier of logistics. What battery challenges are specific to heavy commercial vehicles, and how soon do you expect electric trucks to scale in India?
Commercial vehicles are gaining momentum, whether electric trucks, electric buses or light commercial vehicles.
If you understand the mindset of a vehicle operator or owner, they want to run the vehicle as much as possible. The number of kilometres covered in a day is their revenue, and that is how they shorten the payback period of a commercial vehicle. The initial challenge was the mindset of people, because the upfront cost of an electric vehicle is very high compared to an ICE vehicle.
After a lot of financial calculations and viability analysis, it is now a widely accepted fact that electric commercial vehicles make very good sense. That is why electric trucks and buses are selling like hot cakes. We have seen most transport corporations bringing in electric bus vendors. At the same time, logistics companies running fleets of 200 or 500 trucks, mining operators and logistics partners for FMCG companies are all converting to electric trucks.
The first hurdle was viability, and that has now been widely accepted. The second was charging infrastructure. Over time, charging infrastructure has grown, and fleet operators are also setting up their own charging infrastructure so they can maximise the running time of their trucks. That means more kilometres over time, which further improves viability.
The number of hours a truck runs, better availability of charging infrastructure and access to funding for commercial vehicles have all gained momentum together. That is why more and more fleet operators and logistics companies are moving to electric trucks.
Do you have any plans to enter the international market with your portfolio?
As a battery manufacturer, we have certified our battery products for the international market, so even if our batteries are deployed abroad, they carry all the necessary certifications. A key one is UN 38.3, and all our battery packs for the vehicle segment are certified to it.
What that means for buyers is that any vehicle manufacturer, whether Indian or foreign, can choose our batteries for their vehicles. For example, if an Indian truck manufacturer wants to export trucks, a logical question will come up. The truck is certified by the regional transport authorities, but it also needs certification from international transport agencies. From there, the principal question becomes whether the battery is certified for the international market and whether it carries UN 38.3. We qualify on all these certifications.
One of our customers recently exported buses to Africa and we are shall also be offering our servicing there. We are setting up infrastructure to support Indian players expanding overseas, and we have also been approached by some European manufacturers. They are pursuing a China-plus-one strategy and are looking for batteries for the loader segment, as well as for highway cleaning equipment, which, like trucks, is now going electric.
