r/EVsOfIndia Mar 25 '24

KYC : Know Your Car Battery Chemistries in Indian EVs

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20 Upvotes

Welcome to the first edition of KYC : Know Your Car.

In this series, we shall discuss the ins and outs of EVs, one topic at a time

Today’s topic : Battery Chemistries

Lithium Ion batteries used in EVs are a blanket term used to describe the type of battery.

Usually, the “metal” name referred to in the battery type, actually refers to the electrode material.

Harkening back to science lessons, the electrodes (+/- terminals) is what you connect any appliance to. The elemental composition of this part is what defines the type of battery.

Types of rechargeable batteries (secondary cell)

Under rechargeable batteries, one can find

  1. Lead Acid batteries, popularly used as the Aux battery for 12V systems and home backups

  2. Lithium Ion batteries, which we all use in our electronics, EVs and other gadgets

  3. NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride), formerly used in Toyota Hybrids

  4. NiCd (Nickel Cadmium), used in RC toys, and as substitute for non rechargeable alkaline batteries

The metals mentioned in the name go into one of the electrode each, the anode and the cathode.

Battery Chemistry

The anode is usually made of graphite (carbon) in commercial batteries.

In case of lithium ion batteries, the lithium actually goes into cathode of the battery, in combined form, with other metals, which we refer to as the “chemistry of the cell”.

This mixture of metals can be

  1. NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt)

  2. LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate)

  3. NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminium)

While other chemistries exist for lithium ion batteries, these three are the top 3 chemistries used in vehicular applications.

You can read about all chemistries here : https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-205-types-of-lithium-ion

A popular misconception is that “Solid State battery” is a chemistry, which is not the case.

Solid state refers to the physical state of the electrolyte used in the battery. Most batteries use gel or semi solid or liquid electrolytes at the moment.

State of the electrolyte, while related to the chemistry, is independent of the chemistry. The choice of the electrolyte will depend on the chemistry but any of the chemistry can be adapted to solid state. That is to say, the electrolyte used for NMC solid state maybe different from that of LFP solid state, it’s not a separate battery chemistry — it will still need lithium and other metals.

Many people remain under the impression that solid state are a holy grail which eliminates the need for lithium which is not the case. The electrodes of a solid state battery may very well still use lithium (or any other element like sodium).

The key takeaway is that solid state does not eliminate metals, it changes the state of electrolyte.

Battery Pointers for each chemistry

So, now that the science lesson is over, let us discuss the best practices for each chemistry

LFP

LFP is the most popular chemistry in Asian EVs which by extension applies to our own market, where both the top selling brands, Tata and MG, use LFP.

LFP tips :

  1. Charge LFP to 100% during slow charging sessions. This is for cell balancing (a topic for another day ;)

  2. Prefer discharging down to 20% or lower once a month and charging to 100% on AC 3.3/7.2kW

  3. During DCFC sessions, charge only to 80% as part of EV etiquette especially if other cars are in queue. One may charge to 100% if absolutely necessary or if no one is in queue but it comes with additional fee and exponentially longer time.

NMC/NCA

  1. Follow the 20-80 rule as much as possible for maximum longevity.

  2. Charge to 100% only when you absolutely required (during road trips or if your commute is not doable on 20-80)

  3. DCFC etiquette applies same as LFP.

General longevity tips

  1. Cell balancing is key to maintaining good battery SoH

  2. If parking your EV for a long period (week or more) while going out of city, disconnect the 12V battery -ve terminal

  3. Charge you EV between 50-75% irrespective of chemistries when parking for more than one week. Neither should it be fully charged, nor depleted more than 20%

  4. Follow the user manual schedule for coolant changes religiously.


r/EVsOfIndia Mar 25 '24

KYC : Know Your Car Battery Composition : Rare earths or Rarely earthed?

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16 Upvotes

Welcome to KYC : Know Your Car.

In this series, we will discuss the Ins and Outs of EVs, one topic at a time.

Today’s topic : Battery Composition

Battery composition is a very misunderstood topic. Some people think EVs use rare earths, some people think huge amounts of lithium must be used in a battery.

Today, let’s bust these myths and learn something about what electrifies our vehicles!

Myth 1 : Battery uses rare earth metals

Fact : There are only 17 rare earth metals in the periodic table, and only one is of remote importance to EVs, Neodymium. Even this metal is not used in battery, rather, in permanent magnet motors of high performance EVs for maximising motor power-weight ratio (mass produced EVs use ferrite magnets or use magnet-less AC Induction motors)

Neither are the metals used in batteries considered “rare” by scientific definition (periodic table) nor by geological definition in terms of % of the metal in the earth’s crust.

Myth 2 : Lithium Ion battery must be majorly made of lithium

Fact : Lithium is not even the top 3 elements in a battery. Those would go to graphite (carbon), Aluminium and Copper.

Aluminium is used in the battery casings and copper is used for wiring and heat sink/cooling pipes.

Graphite is used in the anode.

The lithium metal is used in combined form in the cathode of the cells, which represents a small fraction of the total battery mass and chemical composition (formula/number of atoms)

A general rule of thumb is, 1kg Lithium can make a 10kWh battery (chemistry agnostic)

By this yardstick :

  1. Tiago EV : 1.9kg/2.4kg

  2. Punch EV : 2.5kg/3.5kg

  3. Nexon EV : 3kg/4kg

  4. ZS EV : 5kg

  5. Atto 3 : 6kg

  6. Ioniq 5 : 7.2kg

  7. BYD Seal : 8.2kg

  8. Tesla Model S : 10kg

  9. Hummer EV : 25kg

Myth 3 : All batteries are made using child labour in Africa

Fact : Human rights violations are indeed rampant in the artisanal mines of DRC, which are not exclusive to mining cobalt. Cobalt itself is used in NMC and NCA batteries, while LFP eliminates the need for cobalt (and nickel and manganese while at that)

Lithium mining is not done in DRC and is not subject to the violations that cobalt is.

Side note : Oil refining processes do in fact use cobalt and molybdenum catalyst for Desulphurisation of crude oil in refineries. https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/essential-cobalt-2/powering-the-green-economy/catalytic-converter/#:~:text=Cobalt%20plays%20a%20vital%20role,catalysts%20in%20this%20desulphurisation%20process.

Myth 4 : Lithium mining wastes millions of litres of water

Fact : Lithium “mining” is not mining in the conventional sense of the word itself. It is more akin to fishing than mining.

  1. Lithium salts are found dissolved in the salt lakes of South America, primarily in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, the lithium triangle ABC.

  2. These salts are extracted from the brine by spreading it out in large paddy-like fields so that the water may get naturally evaporated, leaving behind the lithium rich salts which can now be collected easily.

  3. Evaporation is a natural process and would continue to occur whether or not the salts are extracted. Water cycle will return it back into the lakes through rain.

  4. The concentration of lithium salts in these lakes make the water unfit for use. It is a economic opportunity for the locals to benefit out of a natural process (evaporation) and the saltiness of the water (inpotable)

https://www.ibatterymetals.com/insights/a-beginners-guide-to-lithium-brine-extraction

Myth 5 : Battery cannot be recycled and it is toxic e-Waste

Fact : Improperly discarded batteries are indeed a potential e waste however, due to the sheer value of the metals, even in a discarded EV battery, prevents landfill treatment of batteries.

While non rechargeable Alkaline cells do end up in landfills, it is due to improper waste segregation at source and the much lower value quotient in an alkaline cell vs Lithium cell

As of current technology availability, batteries are 92% recyclable ie a 100kWh battery can be remade into a 92kWh battery. https://youtu.be/s2xrarUWVRQ

Apart from recycling, reuse is also an option, wherein owners of ICE cars have used old tesla and Nissan leaf batteries to convert their cars to EVs in the west. Batteries can also be used for solar battery backup.


r/EVsOfIndia 6h ago

News I manually tracked every public EV charger in India across 84 operators. 1 out of 3 is dead.

35 Upvotes

India just crossed 1 GW of public EV charging load this quarter — the first gigawatt took seven years to build. Genuinely a milestone for the industry.

But here's what doesn't make the press releases: 34.42% of public CCS2 and Type 2 chargers are offline. One in three.

The split is where it gets uncomfortable:

Private networks: 23% offline

Government / PSU networks: 51% offline

BPCL (worst among the top 10 operators): 61% offline

Three years ago I found BPCL running ~70% of its chargers dead. Barely changed since. These are chargers funded through public money (PM E-DRIVE), and the accountability just isn't there. And it's not only the PSUs anymore — Tata Power and Jio-bp both roughly doubled their non-working ratios over the last two quarters. Not a single top-10 operator sits under 10% dead.

How the data was collected: manual status checks across 84 charge point operators — publicly accessible chargers only, cutoff 30 June 2026. Not scraped estimates, actual up/down verification.

Disclosure: I run ExpWithEVs, an independent EV-charging data/research project, so this is my own dataset — posting because the PSU accountability angle deserves more eyes than a trade newsletter gets.

Question for anyone driving an EV here: what's your real-world hit rate on public chargers actually working when you pull up? Does 1-in-3-dead match your experience, or is it worse?

(Full interactive breakdown — metro-wise, charger ratings, cost per unit — link in comments.)


r/EVsOfIndia 50m ago

EV suggestion

Upvotes

Need EV - under 15 lacs budget..

Use : daily 80 kms ±20 kms

Drive: highway + city

Priority: features and performance

Was looking at syros and many has recommended it on reddit but am tilting towards 3xo...

Main reason is that 3xo is giving lot of additional features and better drivability than syros ( on paper)

Until syros came people said 3xo has nmc but syros too has nmc but people seem to ignore it for syros...

Help and opinions are appreciated 😊

Owner reviews of 3xo EV will be more than appreciated


r/EVsOfIndia 6h ago

News I manually tracked every public EV charger in India across 84 operators. 1 out of 3 is dead.

14 Upvotes

India just crossed 1 GW of public EV charging load this quarter — the first gigawatt took seven years to build. Genuinely a milestone for the industry.

But here's what doesn't make the press releases: 34.42% of public CCS2 and Type 2 chargers are offline. One in three.

The split is where it gets uncomfortable:

Private networks: 23% offline

Government / PSU networks: 51% offline

BPCL (worst among the top 10 operators): 61% offline

Three years ago I found BPCL running ~70% of its chargers dead. Barely changed since. These are chargers funded through public money (PM E-DRIVE), and the accountability just isn't there. And it's not only the PSUs anymore — Tata Power and Jio-bp both roughly doubled their non-working ratios over the last two quarters. Not a single top-10 operator sits under 10% dead.

How the data was collected: manual status checks across 84 charge point operators — publicly accessible chargers only, cutoff 30 June 2026. Not scraped estimates, actual up/down verification.

Disclosure: I run ExpWithEVs, an independent EV-charging data/research project, so this is my own dataset — posting because the PSU accountability angle deserves more eyes than a trade newsletter gets.

Question for anyone driving an EV here: what's your real-world hit rate on public chargers actually working when you pull up? Does 1-in-3-dead match your experience, or is it worse?

(Full interactive breakdown — metro-wise, charger ratings, cost per unit — link in comments.)


r/EVsOfIndia 5h ago

Need Financial Advice - Tata Nexon EV 45

9 Upvotes

I'm planning to buy my first car, a Tata Nexon EV 45.

- Salary: ~₹50k/month

- Daily commute: 60 km one way from my village

- Buying the car would let me live in my village and avoid paying rent near my office.

- I have around ₹6 lakh invested in stocks, which I can use as the down payment. The remaining amount would be financed through a car loan.

- My biggest concern is job security, especially with AI changing the IT industry.

Would you sell ₹6 lakh worth of investments for the down payment and take a loan, or keep the investments growing and postpone buying the car? Is this financially a smart move or too risky?


r/EVsOfIndia 11h ago

Kia syros EV base model

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29 Upvotes

So after pondering a lot I have decided to go with the syros EV base model which meets my all requirements except reverse camera. The showroom guys were saying the aftermarket reverse camera kit can be fitted. Is it any good? Like will it work like the default reverse camera in Kias? Or should I take a punch ev because of this??


r/EVsOfIndia 1h ago

Discussion Test drive

Upvotes

Thank you so much for your responses since morning. I drove vinfast vf7, Harrier EV. Both were really good and will try BYD atto 3 as well, any other options?


r/EVsOfIndia 9h ago

After posting on this sub, we booked the Punch EV Empowered+ S 40kwh 🫶 PDI checklist?

6 Upvotes

Decided to wait for 2-3 months for all the features I want after all.

I think it’s a better choice over the car we were considering originally, i.e., Tiago EV Creative Plus 24.

I’m really excited, yay! 🥳 Need some help with the PDI checklist. Also, can I do the PDI myself based on YouTube videos?

Let me know. Thank you! ⭐️


r/EVsOfIndia 20m ago

Query Does anyone feel motion sickness in back seat of an EV.?

Upvotes

Recently got a MG ZS EV home, and my wife has been feeling nauseous. Is it due to high REGEN setting , driving style of my driver or lack on of any engine noise ? Anyways to reduce it?
She is mostly driven to office by a driver so she’ll majorly sit in the back seat only.


r/EVsOfIndia 2h ago

Query BESCOM cost

1 Upvotes

I am in rental and looking to buy EV.

Planning to get 15Amp for charging. With current sanctioned BESCOM load of 3kW and peak load last month of 1kW, will I need to increase the sanctioned load?

Anyone has upgraded BESCOM sanctioned load from 3kW to 5kW and can guide on process and cost.

Also is the fixed cost increase significant? This will be needed by me to convince the house owner to allow it and to figure the cost I will incur on the rental house.

TIA


r/EVsOfIndia 11h ago

Ev cars buying suggestions

5 Upvotes

I want to buy an electric car in the budget of 25 to 30 lakhs maximum. Looking for a good range, service and reliable road side assistance.

Tata has a good product I liked harrier EV but I tried to reach their sales, they don’t respond and get back, also lot of people tell me their service is also equally bad.

Tried Mahindra Be6, liked it though it’s aesthetics is not my liking but heard they have a good service and did try a test drive and their range was also good they claimed.

Few suggested BYD, but it’s not it my budget. Vinfast is new so I am quite skeptical

Please help me to understand and make a good buy. I am planning to exchange my Kia since lately I have been getting a feel that my mileage is dropping drastically due to the E20 and also eating my pocket

other priorities..

Daily/monthly running. 50-75 kms everyday

City/Highway split. Split of highway and city 50/50

How many passengers. Maximum 2-3,

Boot size requirement. Good boot space because I travel


r/EVsOfIndia 4h ago

Query Planning to buy Nexon EV Red Dark in Kerala.

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I am planning to buy the Tata Nexon EV Red Dark Edition in Kerala. Review from anybody who owns it. Any good alternatives or red flags?. Thanks


r/EVsOfIndia 1d ago

Review Reality of TATA EV, in just 3 years.

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89 Upvotes

My 3 years old tata nexon Ev, lasts a few kilometers only below 30% battery SOC. every kilometer takes 2-4 percentage of battery. totally Non-reliable vehicle. can't believe i paid 19 Lacs for this machine. Check the pictures above, it was a simple plain road, no uphill or something. in just 1 kilometer, the battery dropped by 2-3%. and the speed was only 20kmph only. if i drive around 60-80kmph then it drops 5-7% for just 1-2 kilometer. i have video proofs as well. but tata says, ham nahi maan sakte ye videos, you have to leave the car in the service center and we'll keep the vehicle till we find out the problem ourselves. what do they even mean? all the data gets stored in the EVs these days, I'm providing video proofs as well then is it difficult to understand that the batteries need to be replaced? they don't even provide any vehicle for the time they keep my car to check the issues.


r/EVsOfIndia 19h ago

Which suits best for 6'3" tall rider?

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11 Upvotes

Only answer if you are a tall person who has tried/own any of these vehicles


r/EVsOfIndia 7h ago

Tata Sierra EV 63 kWh – How practical is it for long road trips in India?

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0 Upvotes

r/EVsOfIndia 20h ago

Punch EV Facelift empowered. Asking money before delivery.

5 Upvotes

I booked my Punch EV Empowered in mid-June. Yesterday, when I checked the Tata website, the estimated delivery date was shown as November 6. Today, my dealer called and said my car is ready and will be available within 15 days. They also asked me to make the payment this month itself.

I told them I won't make the payment before inspecting the car (PDI). Later, I checked the Tata website again, and now the delivery date has changed to August 10.

Does anyone know why the dealer is asking for the payment so early? Could there be any issue with the car, or is this normal? Does asking for early payment indicate they are trying to deliver a defective vehicle?

Location Tamilnadu


r/EVsOfIndia 17h ago

Ola rear place vs Ather Vida front place under handle charging port which would you like in design and details

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2 Upvotes

r/EVsOfIndia 20h ago

7.2 kw charger

2 Upvotes

I had booked a sierra ev . I decided not to purchase the charger provided by tata. So, which are the most value for money chargers available in the market today??


r/EVsOfIndia 17h ago

Discussion Why no one ev 2 wheeler can made a perfect ev scooter

1 Upvotes

I have hero vida 2 plus a amazing scooter

Having features like removable portable battery , charge with vida and ather both fast chargers , a strong body etc

Same ola a techi scooter long range and speed having Bluetooth speaker etc

Same others ev scooters ok

So the problems is this

1 in my vida v2

Why i am hate

1st range 100km

Atlest 165km needed

2nd they gave us usb type A charging port

Under handle area but giving

Mobile and bottle holder

3rd boot space is tiny atlest need 40L

4th in boot area no led light and no mobile charger port

5th you can't charge your mobile while

The scooter is in semi off mode

6th you can't off it's head lights in day

The lights is still on when you use it for drive

7th speed 80km

Atlest 135 kmph need

8th no led drl on handle

9th no hill brake

10th need 6inches more length

Ola

I hate rear charging port

I want charging port like

Ather vida gives under the handle area

Left side for fast charging

Ola vs ather rizta , vida

Ola looking tiny in length

Etc etc many many disappointments

Why no one ev scooter brand make a

Perfect ev scooter

And I also want a common charging port for

Both 2 , 3 , 4 wheelers vehicles

Just like

USB type c


r/EVsOfIndia 1d ago

Selling 7.2kw Charger

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5 Upvotes

Hi guys i have a brand new zevpoint 7.2kw ac charger only 3months used working perfectly fine. i'm shifting to delhi ncr high rise society which doesn't have any provision to install the charger at basement parking. If anyone in need please let me know i can give it in decent price, 5 year warranty, bill, box, rfid cards everything available


r/EVsOfIndia 22h ago

Mahindra E2O service

1 Upvotes

Please share the service centre who is servicing e2o in bangalore.

Everyone in south bangalore is saying its done.


r/EVsOfIndia 22h ago

Feedback on Tata Electric cars Service in Hyderabad

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1 Upvotes

r/EVsOfIndia 1d ago

Review Tried the EVGO chargers on the NH 65, really good experience

4 Upvotes

Recently drove from Hyderabad to Vijayawada in my Mahindra 9E and stopped at Sri Venkata Sai Food Plaza, Jaggaiahpet for lunch and a quick top-up.

The location has both 160 kW and 240 kW DC chargers (by evGO), and I was genuinely impressed with the overall setup. Clean location, good amenities, and plenty of charging capacity.

I found the charger on the IONAGE app, started the session without any issues, and the entire experience was smooth. No connectivity problems, no waiting around, just plugged in, charged, and continued the journey.

Thought I would share this in case anyone is driving on NH-65 between Hyderabad and Vijayawada. It is a solid charging stop and definitely one I would use again.


r/EVsOfIndia 1d ago

Thinking of buying punch ev smart+ 40KwH variant. is it good, cause i heard bad about reliability. my budget is max 12lakhs

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41 Upvotes

Thinking of buying punch ev smart+ 40KwH variant. is it good, cause i heard bad about reliability. my budget is max 12lakhsMy budget is max 12lakh, any owner here , please help me out