India’s EV growth demands sustainable battery solutions. A circular battery economy can address environmental and social challenges while ensuring a greener future, write Mallika Vaznaik, Program Manager- Climate Action, Villgro Innovations Foundation and Krithika R, Manager, Climate Action, Villgro Innovations Foundation.
A supportive policy landscape, rising environmental concerns, an increase in VC investment and a booming Indian start-up sector paves the way for the growth of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in India. The Indian EV market is projected to grow at three times the rate of the global average. Consequently, the Indian EV battery market is also expected to grow at a similar rate. The monumental growth of India’s EV sector is being fueled by government support through policies like the PM E-Drive, Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. Whereas the substantial amount of VC investment in Indian EV start-ups can be evidenced in the fact that India accounted for 70% of the global investments in start-ups developing electric two and three wheelers as of 2024 (IEA, 2024). Furthermore, Indian consumers are significantly more environmentally conscious than the global average in their mobility choices with 25% found to prefer hybrid engines (gas/ electric) compared to the global average of 15% (Nielsen, 2023).
Challenges to achieving sustainability in the EV battery life cycle
Looking at the entire life cycle of EV batteries reveals significant environmental costs that need to be accounted for. Being an energy-intensive process, battery manufacturing alone accounts for 35 – 41% of the global warming potential of EVs during production. Batteries popularly used for EVs in India are made from a combination of precious metals including lithium, cobalt and nickel . The methods used for the extraction and processing of these metals have detrimental environmental impacts including ozone depletion, acidification and global warming. Furthermore, producing one tonne of lithium (enough for 100 car batteries) requires 2 million tonnes of water. This has led to a depletion of water in the South American Lithium triangle where Lithium is mined.
Mining of these precious metals also involves atrocious human rights violations. Amnesty International has reported the forced evictions of indigenous communities for cobalt mining accompanied by brutal abuse, rape and displacement. Whereas a report by the non-profit organization Global Witness revealed unsafe working conditions, forced evictions and child labour tied to lithium mining. Another Oxfam report revealed that only 29 of 43 companies involved in mining for clean energy technologies had public policies to respect human rights, even fewer had commitments to the Free Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous and local communities and even those that did were allowed to move forward without obtaining this consent.
The end-of-life and disposal of EV batteries also pose significant environmental threats and concerns. By 2025, over 1.3 million tonnes of EV batteries are expected to go out of service. Lithium-ion batteries can contaminate ecosystems and pollute soil and groundwater as they corrode and the chemicals in them leach out. Components of Lithium batteries are also volatile and pose safety and fire hazards. The recycling of EV batteries faces challenges like varying battery chemistries and the lack of standardized recycling processes. Given batteries are mostly imported, information about their composition is often hidden making it challenging to recycle the components ethically and efficiently.
Research and development into more environmentally friendly electric vehicle battery chemistries and more sophisticated battery recycling processes face setbacks including investment and funding limitations. India imports 70 per cent of the raw materials for EVs from a few countries. This puts EV battery startups in India at higher risk from supply chain disruptions, price volatility and geopolitical tensions, making them a less appealing prospect for potential investors. Whereas, the fragmented nature of the battery supply chain in India poses further challenges to the domestic production of batteries on par with competitors like China, driving away potential investors. The fragmented nature of the battery supply chain in India encompasses many small suppliers providing different parts and components, posing challenges to coordination, timely delivery, consistent quality and economies of scale.
Promises for creating a circular battery economy
What are the solutions to tackle the social and environmental problems posed by the rising demand for EV batteries? Building a circular battery economy would be the key to achieving sustainability in the battery value chain. The eMobility R&D Roadmap, published by the Principal Scientific Advisor, has identified 4 broad critical streams in e-Mobility where increased R&D needs to be focused, with Energy Storage Cells, Materials and recycling being one of them. There are three broad areas of the battery lifecycle into which we can categorise the solutions to achieve a Circular Battery Economy:
i) Interventions in the battery materials:
Lithium Ion batteries are the most commonly used batteries for EVs. The Lithium Ion battery, which uses NMC battery chemistry, comes with its challenges, as mentioned earlier. However, we are seeing battery chemistries evolving and moving beyond Lithium-Ion. Other material innovations include Sodium Ion, Solid State, Lithium Sulphur, Zinc-based, and Graphene batteries. Some of these alternatives provide more efficiency in energy density, reduce the risk of thermal runaway which is the main cause of battery-related fires, and provide faster charging rates and increased range. These chemistries use abundantly available materials, reducing the dependency on imports and are less toxic.
In India, startups like Aatral ESP are working on developing Sodium Ion battery chemistry. Sodium is abundantly available and comes with various advantages like lower cost and increased safety due to reduced risk of thermal runaway. Cancrie is another startup that is developing nanomaterials for batteries and capacitors to increase their efficiency by up to 125 percent 22, and doing it using agricultural waste making it a sustainable solution. We need more innovators and innovations reimagining the foundation of battery technology, transforming challenges into opportunities for a sustainable future.
ii) Interventions in improving battery use efficiency
There have been advancements in tech innovations focusing on reducing battery degradation and improving battery life. A Battery Management System (BMS), manages the electronics of a rechargeable battery and monitors battery health, this helps ensure battery safety and efficient utilisation of the battery leading to longer battery life. Many IoT vehicle monitoring solutions provide insights into vehicle health and driving behaviour, to ensure the efficient utilisation of energy and safety. Hala Mobility is an electric 2-wheeler leasing and rental start-up developing an IoT device to monitor their fleet of vehicles, to improve vehicle safety and ensure efficient and longer utilisation of their fleets. Such innovations in the process of usage of the vehicle/battery improve battery use efficiency and ensure longer battery life, thus reducing the need to replace batteries in shorter intervals.
iii) Interventions in End-of-life of EV batteries:
End-of-life management of EV batteries is crucial to addressing environmental challenges and improving the circularity and sustainability of the EV ecosystem. The range of solutions here could be battery recycling to extract precious/rare materials and add them back to the value chain. Other solutions also include repurposing batteries to give them a second life. Tech interventions like AI, IoT, and blockchain will ensure traceability in the battery’s end-of-life management value chain. Emerging startups like Li-Circle and Shoonya Recycling are working towards improving the output of the battery recycling process. Shoonya Recycling also uses AI and ML models to identify cell components, to price output post-extraction process accurately and to enable the traceability of materials. Ziptrax is another startup that is aggregating end-of-life Lithium-Ion batteries, using AI and IoT to test and grade the batteries and then repurposing them for energy storage and lighter vehicle use cases.
Another noteworthy global initiative in the pipeline is the Battery Passport, a digital twin that carries all the key information about the battery. This would enable transparency and standardisation while enabling circularity in the value chain globally. These innovative solutions are pivotal in reducing environmental impact, conserving scarce resources, and fostering a sustainable and circular economy within the EV ecosystem.
Conclusion
Creating a circular battery economy would be vital to solving increasing social and environmental concerns from the rising demand for EV batteries. We can achieve this by focusing on introducing innovations in different parts of the battery life cycle from cradle to grave. Battery technology is a high investment area and would require the right kind of funding from public and private sources. Early-stage innovators would also need support on R&D and facilities to develop these technologies. By fostering collaboration among industry stakeholders, government bodies, policymakers, private funders, and incubators, we can create a robust ecosystem that accelerates innovation, ensures sustainable battery lifecycle management, and drives the transition to a circular battery economy.
References:
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Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of FMM magazine.

Mallika Vaznaik
Program Manager- Climate Action
Villgro Innovations Foundation

Krithika R
Manager, Climate Action
Villgro Innovations Foundation