The EV Expo 2018 in Delhi was indeed power packed! Powered by lithium ion. Of the many battery manufacturers and dealers that were at the event, I did not expect that I would run into one that had garnered expertise in the lithium-ion battery repair and regeneration department. I didn’t even know there was such a thing like “lithium ion battery regeneration!”
Pastiche, a battery manufacturing unit based out of Panchkula, Haryana, in collaboration with a Chinese company A&S Power has developed a machine that it claims can repair and regenerate a lithium ion battery. The box is being manufactured in China and it’s a patented technology in India. Apparently, no other company offers this innovation in the country yet.
In order to repair a damaged battery, one just has to connect it to the machine. There is an algorithm involved in this process which analysis the battery voltage in each of the cells and then diagnoses it to fix any errors.
For example, there are 30 cells in your battery pack some of the cells might be at 2.6 volt, some at 2.9 and so on. This machine takes into account all cells and their respective voltage levels and then averages it. In the end, all the cells get balanced at 2.9 volts.
This results in better efficiency and a considerable jump in performance.
The kind of damage we are talking about is internal. Let's take the example of an e-rickshaw. When the rickshaw takes more load it will require more power hence the rider will apply more throttle to the vehicle.
Subsequently, more current is drawn from the battery and this whole process takes a toll on the battery and during the course of time the battery underperforms.
This is where the battery regeneration/repair machine comes into play which increases the efficiency and the overall life-cycle of the battery pack. The machine takes 24-hours to completely diagnose and repair the battery.
The Lithium battery Regeneration/Repair machine (as the company calls it), offers both auto and manual mode to make the repair. Currently, the the white box is only compatible with 48 volt batteries and cells manufactured by Pastiche. The company is looking to push out models which will offer compatibility for batteries made by other manufacturers as well. Pastiche is not offering the machine for sale, but said that it will be made available on rental basis.
Pastiche is offering door-step services for repairs whereby you email a complaint and the representative from the company will come to your house to repair the battery with the machine. Initially, Pastiche is looking to operate in zones like Chandigarh and Delhi and then later spread to other parts.
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