EV Startup Grevol Partners With CATL for Li-ion Battery Packs

Grevol has partnered with China’s CATL for Li-ion battery packs for its upcoming electric cargo.

Green Evolve Private Limited (Grevol) is an Indian electric mobility startup, founded in 2019, which manufactures and finances EVs. New Delhi-based Grevol has announced the launch of their cutting-edge lithium battery packs, created for their soon-to-be-launched electric three-wheeler (E3W) (L5N category) light commercial vehicles.

Grevol has partnered with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) to procure cells for its lithium battery packs for its upcoming E3W (L5N vehicles). CATL is a global li-ion battery cell manufacturer and developer.

Speaking on the cell technology, Founder and CEO of Grevol, Mr. Jayant Gupta stated, “Using these high-grade cells we can reduce the charging time to less than 2 hours by providing fast charging option to achieve 200 Km range/day and a life of 200,000 Km or up to 8 years by our estimates.”

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Based on trials and customer feedback, Grevol believes that its upcoming L5N category vehicle can consistently deliver a longer range with a higher payload capacity in comparison to other EVs in the three-wheeler segment.

“We had to insist the E-commerce delivery partners take our vehicles for longer routes as they were not confident with electric vehicle capabilities based on earlier experience with other electric 3 wheelers they have used so far. The delivery partners were pleasantly surprised to note that Grevol vehicles provide a much superior range with heavier payloads,” Jayant further informed.

Grevol’s CTO, Sanjay Aggarwal, affirmed, “An EV is essentially a battery pack on wheels, comprising 40-50 percent of the vehicle cost. We conducted comprehensive lab and on-road tests to identify and resolve the challenges associated with the adaptability of lithium-ion batteries in the warmer climatic and tough road conditions prevalent in India.”

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Today, e-commerce and logistic companies are looking for a bankable EV for their last-mile delivery operations. They expect it to match the performance and utility of conventional vehicle fleets, largely consisting of Tata Ace and Mahindra Champion. “To address this requirement, we have developed a vehicle that not only provides higher volume carrying capacity, but also a high payload, long-range, and an assured uptime,” says Rakesh Gupta, the Co-founder & COO of Grevol.

The company has reportedly conducted successful pilot runs with Flipkart, Big Basket, Porter, E-comm Express, and others. The company will soon be launching its E3W (L5N Category) cargo in the Delhi-NCR market.

This partnership is not a regular partnership with any battery developer but, a partnership with a firm that rose from the pandemic-induced losses. CATL returned to sales and profit growth after the effects of the coronavirus pandemic eased in China and demand rose for customers including Tesla Inc. Although in the first half of the last year CATL’s revenue had decreased about 7% due to the pandemic, it recovered quickly and recorded a net profit increase of 4.2% to 1.42 billion yuan (USD 212 million) in just three months of the third quarter. Partnership with Tesla has been believed to be the reason behind this boost in the company’s global market share at a time of falling battery sales.

This year, the largest battery developer, CATL has surpassed Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in the wealth rankings, a symbolic moment in the rise of China’s green billionaires. Zeng Yuqun, the founder of CATL recorded a net worth of USD 49.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as shares of CATL surged. Zeng overtook Jack Ma’s wealth of USD 48.1 billion and became one of the five richest people in Asia for the first time.