Webinar category: Transport

No Magnets No Compromise: The Next Revolution in Rare Earth Free EV Motors

Electric vehicles are evolving rapidly and magnet-free motor technologies are emerging as a promising alternative to conventional permanent magnet motors. This webinar explores the next generation of EV motor technologies, focusing on how motors without rare-earth magnets can deliver high performance while addressing cost, sustainability and supply chain challenges.
In this expert-led discussion, leading researchers and industry specialists share insights on the design, performance and real-world potential of magnet-free EV motors, including technologies such as synchronous reluctance and switched reluctance motors.
What this webinar covers:

  • Fundamentals: Understanding different types of magnet-free motors, their construction and how they differ from traditional permanent magnet motors.
  • Technical insights: Performance characteristics, efficiency and control strategies for next-generation EV motors.
  • Industry adoption: Practical considerations for manufacturing, scalability and deployment in electric vehicles.
  • Sustainability & supply chain: Reducing dependence on rare-earth materials and improving supply chain resilience.
  • Future innovations: Emerging research directions, control strategies and technology developments shaping the future of EV propulsion.

Key Takeaways from the Webinar

  • Supply chain independence: Discussions covered India’s efforts to reduce dependence on imported permanent magnets by building domestic manufacturing capacity and strengthening the EV supply chain.
  • Material sourcing strategy: The need for developing domestic rare-earth processing and supply chains was highlighted to reduce reliance on limited global suppliers.
  • Motor cost structure: Panelists discussed key cost drivers in EV motors, noting that copper and steel contribute significantly, while magnets form a smaller share of total motor cost.
  • Motor efficiency and technology: Different motor technologies were compared in terms of efficiency, performance, and operational characteristics across EV applications.
  • Application suitability: The discussion highlighted how different motor types are suited to different vehicle segments depending on power requirements and performance needs.
  • Regenerative braking considerations: The session also touched on how motor design influences regenerative braking capability and overall system complexity.

From Chargers to Systems: Making EV Infrastructure Scale-Ready

Objective of the Webinar:

The objective of this webinar was to examine how ready India’s EV charging ecosystem is to scale, not just in terms of technology, but also from the lenses of manufacturing capacity, deployment realities, utilisation, grid integration, standards, and commercial viability.

By bringing together perspectives from charger manufacturing, charging network operations, and public-sector program implementation, the session aimed to identify what is working, what is slowing scale-up, and what needs to change over the next five years to build a reliable, interoperable, and financially sustainable EV charging infrastructure in India.

Topics Covered in the webinar:

  • How prepared India’s charger OEM ecosystem is to support the shift toward larger batteries, fast and ultra-fast charging, and higher-voltage vehicles
  • How the mix of AC vs DC chargers is evolving across homes, public locations, highways, and fleets
  • Whether charger technology specifications are a bottleneck, or if challenges lie more in execution and site readiness
  • Why charging utilisation remains low in many locations, and what drives higher usage in select city and fleet locations
  • How green corridors and demand aggregation across cars, buses, trucks, and fleets can improve charger utilisation
  • What business model innovations (CapEx vs asset-light / PPP) can make public charging more viable
  • Why security, amenities, and site quality play a critical role in where users choose to charge
  • How grid connections, demand charges, and power availability affect CPO economics
  • Where standards, interoperability, and communication protocols still need improvement to enhance user experience
  • How charger OEMs manage manufacturing risk and ROI amid uncertain utilisation using modular and flexible designs
  • What kind of policy support and subsidies are currently available—and how they influence adoption and pricing

Key Insights:

  • India’s EV charging technology and manufacturing capability is largely ready, including support for high-power and ultra-fast chargers
  • The real challenge in scaling lies less in hardware and more in utilisation, site readiness, grid access, and business models
  • High-capacity chargers (120 kW and above) are becoming essential as users expect shorter charging times, especially on highways
  • Public charging is increasingly standardising around CCS2, with different power levels aligned to vehicle segments
  • Utilisation is improving in cities but remains uneven, especially on highways, due to demand–infrastructure timing gaps
  • Green corridors that enable round-the-clock use by different vehicle types can significantly improve charger economics
  • Moving from standalone chargers to secure, amenity-led charging hubs improves user confidence, reduces vandalism, and boosts usage
  • Asset-light and PPP models, leveraging government land and shared infrastructure, offer a more sustainable path for public charging
  • Charger OEMs are using modular designs and phased manufacturing to stay flexible while preparing for demand growth
  • Successful scale-up will require close coordination between OEMs, CPOs, utilities, policymakers, and investors, rather than siloed efforts

Zero Emission Trucks: Applicability and the required Policy Push

India is the world’s sixth-largest commercial vehicle market by sales volume and the third-largest manufacturer, with more than 4.6 billion tonnes of freight transported annually. Domestic commercial vehicle sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% between 2014 and 2021. Medium and Heavy-duty Truck (MHDT) segment, which includes vehicles with a GVW greater than 3.5 T, accounted for about 45% of total commercial vehicle sales in 2021. While the MHDT sales represent only 5% of the total automotive market, they contribute approximately 45% of on-road emissions, with the MHDT segment estimated to contribute as high as 70% of criteria pollutants, especially NOx emissions. Therefore, addressing

emissions from heavy freight transport is crucial for India’s clean road transport transition, particularly in the context of achieving its Net Zero Goal by 2070.

The prospects for electrifying trucking are improving. Global experiences in China, Europe, and California have witnessed sales of e-Trucks, driven by government support, technology development, and increasing model availability, albeit from a small base. In the light and intermediate truck segment, electrification is expected to achieve total cost of ownership (TCO) parity with diesel trucks by 2024, and in certain key applications, MHDT are expected to attain TCO parity within the same time frame.

Governments can play a vital role in accelerating the deployment of e-Trucks by introducing policies that support economies of scale, leading to lowering of purchase costs. This includes purchase subsidies, bulk procurement like India’s bus segment, and early planning and investments in charging and grid infrastructure. Currently, India’s FAME-II scheme does not provide incentives for e-MHDT, nor does it include private buses. Furthermore, while many states have EV policies, they lack a specific focus on freight decarbonisation.

In March 2023, Technical Roadmap on Deployment of Zero-Emission Trucking in India prepared by Principal Scientific Adviser has been submitted to the Govt. of India. This milestone roadmap identifies various technical actions for ZET implementation and broadly outline pathways to ZET adoption in India, including policy, financing, business models, charging, technology and manufacturing, providing a solid foundation for future developments, research, and collaborative efforts in the field of e-Mobility.

As the demand side creates market signals for e-Trucks, it is crucial to understand the perspective of MHDT manufacturers regarding e-Truck technology development, costs, product availability, market readiness, and the status and challenges to achieve targets of Technical Roadmap on ZET. With a largely fragmented trucking industry, clarity on the distinct and intersecting roles and market opportunities of fleet players, MHDT OEMs, and infrastructure providers will be key in driving the transition to Zero Emission Trucks (ZETs).

Key discussion points:

1) Policy and Technological Roadmap for shifting the Indian Trucking sector from ICE to Zero-emission technologies

2) Cost Economics and financial aspects associated with the adoption and operation of ZETs

3) Collaboration between demand and supply sides on a unified platform to explore prospects for e-Truck pilots and initiatives

4) Market Needs and Growth Opportunities for strong domestic ZET market, providing scale for manufacturing and exports

5) Discussing Technical Roadmap for Zero-emission Trucking by PSA and the Need for a Supporting Ecosystem and Measures

Panellists:

  • Karthick Athmanathan – PSA fellow- ZET Expert and Professor of Practice, IIT Madras
  • S.A Sundaresan – Head, New Technologies, Ashok Leyland
  • Anand Mimani – CEO, GreenLine

Transition Pathways to Electric Cooking in India

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Approximately 40% (2.8 billion people) of the global population still cooks with either wood, dung, coal, or charcoal. Nearly 84% of rural Indian households cook on stoves that use solid or biomass fuels.

In India, women spend an hour every day collecting firewood. This time dedicated to collecting firewood and cooking limits their ability to attend school and generate income. Moreover, women are exposed to toxic pollutants released from the burning of solid fuels (wood, charcoal, etc.).

Also, the burning of solid fuel in inefficient traditional stoves is responsible for the emission of various indoor air pollutants, which have direct and indirect impacts on the health of women and children. According to the Global Burden of Disease estimation, solid fuel burning for cooking accounted for 6 lakh premature deaths in 2019 in India. Thus, it is need of the hour to transition to electric cooking solutions which include access to electricity, and cleaner, more efficient stoves.

The ‘Go Electric’ campaign launched by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) talks about spreading awareness on the benefits of electric cooking in India. The draft National Energy Policy by NITI Aayog also aims to achieve access to clean cooking energy for all by 2022, emphasizing electric-based cooking. Despite the benefits of electric stoves and impetus from the government, their widespread penetration and adoption are still limited in both rural and urban areas. Therefore there is a need for technical, economical, and political interventions to bring about a transition from highly-polluting traditional cooking solutions to electric cooking solutions.

This Webinar shall focus on understanding the different transition pathways for electric cooking in India with key discussion points around

  • Electric cooking solutions
  • Challenges for growth
  • Areas of interventions to help mass adoption