Building smart electric vehicles from scratch

The EV industry in India has been developing at a very high growth rate with the right push from the government, better manufacturing facilities, improved charging infrastructure, etc. The recent few years have seen many successful startups taking the industry by storm and the OEMs are also gearing up to face the heat of the competition. According to the data provided by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), 4,29,217 units of EVs were sold in FY22, compared to 1,34,821 in the previous financial year, which shows more awareness amongst consumers. Over the last decade, India has witnessed many types of electric vehicles. While we saw many imports and assembled products that were eventually made into more prominent brands, there were companies that also built vehicles from the scratch. Vehicles built and developed from scratch will have more sustenance in the long run due to the R&D conducted on the vehicles for a long period of time.

There are many elements to be taken into consideration while developing an EV from the scratch:

Background:

The process of building an electric four-wheeled vehicle from scratch requires a lot of ideation and R&D, followed by actions to be able to finally realize the vision. Prototyping of a vehicle in a startup is very different from that of a larger existing OEMs. For a typical OEM, it starts with market research, concept development, initial vehicle specifications, packaging and layout, benchmarking, sketching, modelling, engineering, virtual verification, prototyping, homologation, testing, and manufacturing. While in a startup, it all begins with the founder’s vision of identifying market gaps, vehicle specifications, sketches, 3D modelling, prototyping, improvising the design according to prototype insights, detailed engineering with validation, and subsequent testing. Making the prototype better each time until manufacturing is a continuous process. Although the key areas of focus may seem similar, in reality, the difference is huge, primarily due to the limited resources and skills available at the start of the project for the startup. A startup looks to achieve different goals in the various stages of the product development, starting from self assurance, customer validation, investor confidence, testing & approval. Developing four-wheeler electric vehicles in Indian startup ecosystem is a long and difficult journey due to the long gestation period that most VCs tend to avoid, as the automotive industry is a capital-intensive business. For this reason, the founder needs to be very resourceful to find a way to work with limited resources .

Technical aspects:

Technically, a 4 wheeler product development in India is a very long but matured process, h, the major auto OEMs have set processes & advanced technologies and methodologies used to build and develop vehicles. But from the perspective of electric vehicles it is important to consider many factors like powertrain sizing, motor power, motor technology, battery-pack size, battery chemistry, battery pack voltage, and charging specifications. These are certain important decisions for the overall performance of an electric vehicle. Previously induction motors were preferred for their robustness, low cost, and low maintenance. The choice of battery chemistry within the lithium batteries is also an important consideration in terms of battery pack weight and size, cost, and battery pack thermal performance.

Build vs Buy:

To build or to buy is the big question in any development process. Especially in development of a 4 wheeler electric car. In most cases, it’s romantic to say that we have designed everything in-house, but the real challenge of developing parts in-house is at another level when doing design to production part. There is a reason why most major OEMs rely heavily on their suppliers for their parts & product assemblies. Developing a prototype of a part is relatively easy, however it is difficult to manage all the factors such as tool cost, cost per part, manufacturability, reliability, and durability etc. Therefore, building vs buying needs to be a very strategic and conscious decision.

Proof of concept:

Scrappiness and a lot of tedious work goes behind creating the first prototype. So to speak, a proof of concept, requires a lot of planning and integration. Most early prototypes are built from off-the-shelf parts mounted on a tubular chassis, with many edits and modifications to suit your needs. This requires spending a lot of time checking the parts yourself in the local scrapyard and really getting your hands dirty to find the part that suits your needs. The first prototype generally provides a very broad view of what we want to build conceptually. It’s not the most beautiful and most complete vehicle, but it conveys the concept in a way that the founder intended to convey it to the outside world. And most of the first prototypes usually don’t look like the final product they imagined. They serve a great purpose for the stakeholders to understand the concept and get the hang of what goes into making a proto build vehicle. Thus, manufacturing an electric vehicle is an iterative process, requiring multiple steps to reach the goal in terms of vehicle design.

While proof of concept is only the beginning, building an EV from scratch requires an ample amount of R&D along with the other resources that are called the 4Ms- man, mind, machine, and money. Undoubtedly the process of building a vehicle is tough. But, with technological advancements and more resources than ever, the impossible is nothing.

This article has been authored by Kalpit Patel, CEO & Founder, PMV Electric. All views expressed are personal.