Lithium-ion batteries soon to be matter of past!

Chandan Sharma

Is lithium-ion battery; that bagged Nobel award in 2019, going to be a matter of past? At least, new researches in this concern indicate so. Interesting fact is that the Indian policy makers believe that these batteries are not suitable for Indian requirements.

This has been indicated by NITI Aayog’s senior officials during a discussion on the issue in New Delhi. According to them “India needs new technology which suits Indian environment and requirements. It may be Aluminium batteries or hydrogen fuel or something else.”

According to him, though lithium ion batteries are working in e-vehicles but considering the requirement, weather and environment researchers should consider some new technology for the future.

Scientists and engineers, working in the field of the e-vehicles say that the lithium-ion batteries are not suitable option for public transport as it is very heavy and expensive. Moreover, recharging of these batteries is still a big issue for manufacturers of such vehicles.

It is notable that Delhi is already working on a plan to introduce hydrogen fuel for public transportation facilities, considering the volume of pollution on roads and number of daily passengers in the NCR areas.

It is notable that over 40 lakh vehicles are operating in the capital city on daily basis. The scheme like odd-even and others emergency measures unable to yield enough results to reduce pollution in the city.

It is an interesting fact that the metro train (DMRC) that has been mandated to provide high speed public transportation system, is now working extensively on a plan to ply e-rickshaws to ferry its passengers to their homes. This is certainly a move to distract its main task to provide passengers a comfortable high speed public transportation system, despite the fact that the move is intended to enhance revenue of the company. The company is already making huge money from the outdoor advertising (mostly of Kejriwal government); snatching bread and butter of dying print media and online and electronic media. Needless to say that DAVP plays an important role in this concern by authorizing these government ventures to convert into advertising ventures.

But it is a matter of fact that metro is least polluting public transport system. It will be better if it remains a public transport system than the advertising kiosks.

(Chandan Sharma is founder of Yuvavani.com; A pvt. initiative not part of AIR or any ppp)