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Log9 Materials announced Tuesday its battery pack built for last mile delivery e-vehicles has received certification from the India’s auto standards agency. The Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 156 certification for RapidX 8000 batteries was achieved after it passed tests conducted by International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT).
The battery, built for e-3Ws, gets its certification against the backdrop of a spate of EV mishap incidents reported from across India due to negligence of safety compliance by EV and battery makers.
India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had introduced AIS-156 certification to uphold consumers’ safety in the light of EV malfunctions that caused fire in some cases. The newly certified batteries come with the technology that charges the packs within 35 minutes from 0 to 100%.
The Sequoia-backed firm’s batteries can operate in temperature ranging from -40° to 65° Celsius up to 15,000 charge-discharge cycles. The battery is a durable powerhouse to electrify the growing commercial “3W EV segment in India,” the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement.
Demand for e-3Ws slightly fell during the pandemic, but the market is now warming up as last-mile delivery logistics is picking up pace. When pandemic was raging, the global electric three wheeler market was projected to grow from $582.46 million in 2021 to $831.10 million in 2028 at a CAGR of 5.2%, according to Fortune Business Insights.
In India, Mahindra & Mahindra leads the e-3Ws market with 7.9% market share. It is said to be increasing its production capacity and adding more dealer touchpoints in the coming months. The company sold 1,000 electric vehicles in March 2021, which doubled by March 2022. In November 2022 the company sold 4,000 units.
