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00:00:09 ADITYA NATH JHA
Welcome to this edition of India Means Innovation, where we discuss the technologically complex innovations coming out of India. Today we'll be talking to Mr. Rajendra Chougule who is the Head of the Centre of Excellence for Automotive Technologies at Tata Consultancy Services. Tata Consultancy Services is the digital transformation and technology partner of choice for industry leading organisations across the world. Welcome, Rajendra.
00:00:45 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Thank you, Aditya.
00:00:47 ADITYA NATH JHA
EVs are becoming absolutely mainstream now, but the price points are a bit high. Can you explain why is that?
00:00:58 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Higher price of AV is a challenge currently in industry. So if you see 50% cost of AV is coming from two major components, 1 is a battery and another is east powerted components. So today we will focus on East powertrain components for our discussion and we will see what we are doing around those components to address the challenges.
00:01:23 ADITYA NATH JHA
So the East powertrain is what transfers the power from the battery to the wheels? Absolutely. So what is the problem with the East power trains?
00:01:35 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
So currently if you see the traditional EV's, those are having discrete E power components, those are on board chargers, DC DC converters, Power Distribution units and motor inverters and so on. South. These discrete components are connected to each other by cables, bus bars, contactors and heavy connectors and those are required to carry high current to ensure electrical safety. But this interfaces increases width and size, thereby increasing the cost of East V and which is a Center for innovation.
00:02:23 ADITYA NATH JHA
So higher weight, larger size, therefore higher cost and at the same time so many parts, so many connections, so lesser efficiency because much more losses in transmission. So what is the innovation that you have come up with?
00:02:44 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
In a TCS we have developed innovative platform called 3 in one EV charging platform which integrates 3 components. That is why three in one, one is onput charger, DC, DC converter and 3rd is Power Distribution unit in a single compact box.
00:03:06 ADITYA NATH JHA
That's wonderful. So by integrating 3 major components, you are reducing the weight, you are reducing the size of this whole thing. Therefore, you are reducing the cost, you are increasing the efficiency.
00:03:22 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Absolutely now.
00:03:23 ADITYA NATH JHA
We talked about the cost of EV, but the other, you know, anxiety amongst EV drivers, EV owners is the driving range. So does that mean that this also provides a higher driving range for the vehicle?
00:03:44 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Yes, it does. It reduce the weight of the vehicle and thereby increase in the efficiency of the vehicle or entire powertrain and offers a high driving range to the owners.
00:03:59 ADITYA NATH JHA
So lower cost of the EV, higher driving range. What are the technologies you are using to make this possible?
00:04:08 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Here I can highlight five different aspect of the technology. One, it is a scalable architecture which covers 400 hole battery to 800 hole battery and vehicle ranges. Also passenger vehicles to heavy commercial vehicles that is one. Second, it uses silicon carbide Mosfets. This is the latest technology. It provides higher efficiency at lower cost. Third is bidirectional power topology which allows us to provide power from vehicle to hope or grid which is called V 2G or V2L vehicle to load. 4th liquid cooled mechanical enclosure for handling the thermal profile of this design. And 5th important aspect is configurable software which is based on AUTOSAR layer. It runs on two multi core micro controllers and comply with cyber security and functional safety standards.
00:05:20 ADITYA NATH JHA
And this entire innovation has been designed, architected, developed here by your team in Pune in India, right?
00:05:31 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Yes, absolutely. This entire product from the scratch is developed by TCS Design team of India in collaboration with Tata Auto Com Systems. It includes hardware development, software development, mechanical enclosure and prototype are manufactured at our Goa factory. But mass manufacturing will be happening at Tata Auto Com manufacturing plant.
00:06:00 ADITYA NATH JHA
And you have global clients for this?
00:06:03 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Yes, absolutely.
00:06:05 ADITYA NATH JHA
So the smaller size, the lesser weight of this entire powertrain unit also means that there is more space available in the EV.
00:06:18 RAJENDRA CHOUGULE
Yes, Now as an end user, OEMs, what OEMs are getting out of it. So OEMs are getting a reduction in overall weight of the car as well as improvement in available space in the car. Whereas EV owners, they will get a front reduction in a cost as well as they will get improved range. So this is the advantage.
00:06:43 ADITYA NATH JHA
So let me recount the benefits. Lower upfront cost of the EV, higher driving range, more space in the car, more sustainable. Wow, this is an excellent example of India means innovation.
