Log 9 Materials, a startup incubated from IIT-Roorkee five years ago, has developed fast-charging batteries for electric vehicles, which will help extend the life of the power unit and adoption of EVs, an official said.

The company is carrying out trial runs in several cities of the country with its new batteries that can bring down charging time to 15 minutes and power the vehicle to run 60 km in one go, he claimed.

The startup firm, which is involved in the field of nano-technology, will be introducing EV batteries for two- wheelers and three-wheelers.

These batteries will not only reduce charging time by 80 per cent but also extend the life of the power unit to 10 years, Log 9 Materials Founder and CEO Akshay Singhal said.

“We are currently focusing on commercial vehicles as they require recharging more frequently for their heavy usage. Long-charging time is the major hurdle for the commercial fleets used by e-commerce and food delivery companies, Singhal told in an interview.

For personal EVs, one charge is enough for a day and that can be done at night, he said.

“Our main USP is very short charging time. It can increase the life of the battery by three to five times than a normal one despite heavy commercial usage,” he said.

Moreover, the company will introduce a lease-based model for batteries to reduce the upfront cost to buy an electric vehicle, he said, adding that this is” more feasible for the commercial fleet owners”.

“We will charge Rs 4,000 for a three-wheeler EV for 2,500 km in a month and will soon decide on the tariff for two-wheelers,” Singhal said.

The company has taken up pilot projects for these batteries with companies like Amazon, Vogo, Shadowfax and Delhivery and other key fleet operators in cities such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai.

“The commercial services will begin shortly. We will also introduce the service in Kolkata in a month or two.

“We have tied up with EV maker Omega Seiki and are in negotiations with eight others for collaborations. The company is also working on new long-distance batteries for intercity movements in the next two years,” Singhal said.

The startup firm has so far pumped in Rs 40 crore in research and development to turn the normal lithium-ion batteries into fast-charging ones and increase their longevity using wonder material “graphene”.

“We are looking at a fresh round of capital infusion to the tune of USD 10-20 million to invest in the commercialisation of the research. We will set up our manufacturing facility,” Singhal said.