The recent incidents of fire, involving various electric scooters in the country, have in a sense dampened the mood for EVs. As if to offset it comes the news that electric two-wheeler manufacturer in India Komaki is working on fireproof batteries, which it hopes to mainstream soon.
Komaki, which launched the Ranger and Venice electric two-wheelers in January and the DT 3000 last month, has been reportedly working on these fireproof batteries since last year.
"We are in the process of acquiring the patent (for fireproof batteries)," Subhash Sharma, operations head at Komaki, has been quoted as saying in a report by IANS.
But questions remain about the efficacy of fireproof batteries.
What goes into making of fireproof batteries?
Komaki Operations Head, however, feels that fireproof batteries, at least theoretically, can ensure no such incidents happen with their EVs.
Batteries in EVs can catch fire because of poor quality lithium cells, cell leakage inside the battery, and mismatch between parameters of battery controller and motor (powertrain). If these are addressed, then most batteries can be deemed as being home and dry in more ways than one.
And that is what Komaki is trying to do. "At Komaki, EVs are checked with accurate calculation parameters between current flow and battery capacity with temperature control features in BMS and controller," he said.
It should be said that internal combustion engines (ICE) are as susceptible to fire as EVs are. "Both gasoline and lithium are highly inflammable—the self-ignition temperature of gasoline is a little over 210-degree Celsius, while that of lithium is about 135-degree Celsius. The safety is in the technology that is used to harness the energy," he said.
The company also claims that it takes steps to purchase the best quality cells to develop safer batteries and reduce the risk of such incidents. It also uses metal outer casing instead of plastic.
As you can see, these are essentially quality control practices that EV companies are anyway expected to follow. The Komaki official has not spoken anything about the technical side of the fireproof batteries that the company wants to patent.
On the other hand, the company being secretive about a technology that it wants to patent is also understandable.
So, the final word on the workability of fireproof batteries has to wait till they arrive.
Komaki is in EV business since 2016. It has sold over 2,500 units of the Ranger and the Venice combined, and this calendar year it is hoping to launch a few more models.
