Ashok Leyland and Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) have signed an agreement to promote R&D activities for strengthening battery engineering and related sub-parts for electric vehicles.

Under the agreement, Ashok Leyland will sponsor the Centre of Battery Engineering (CoBE) at IIT-M. It will provide a funding of ₹1.5 crore over a five-year period to the centre.

The centre will seek to supplement ongoing research by facilitating collaboration between industry and researchers to study various battery characteristics. It will also work on developing the next generation of smart battery chargers and battery management protocols, according to a statement. “We are confident that, with the high quality of people and the special list of research initiatives, CoBE at IIT-M will be a key partner in the country’s electric mobility vision and will help us understand this technology better and stay ahead of global players,” said Karthick Athmanathan, Head, Electric Vehicles and e-Mobility Solutions, Ashok Leyland.

CoBE will play a larger role in bringing synergies among various industry partners. It will also be doing consulting for Ashok Leyland as well as others in niche and IPR-intensive areas where there is a need for in-depth testing and development, including simulations.

Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT-M, termed battery engineering, specifically for electric vehicles, an important emerging area of research and innovation. CoBE will also provides policy inputs to the national electric vehicles programme.

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