Energy in Motion Ltd. (EIM) has inaugurated an Electric Heavy-Duty Commercial Vehicle Complex at Ambi village in Talegaon, Pune. The complex is meant for electric trucks, tractor-trailers, dumpers and similar vehicles. It brings together an assembly plant for electric heavy commercial vehicles, a lithium-ion battery pack assembly factory and an independent battery testing laboratory. The Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr. Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated it, in the presence of Rajya Sabha MP Sharadchandra Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar.
The company says the Industry 4.0-enabled complex was built in just over a year after the MoU was signed, with an initial capacity of 5,000 vehicles. It is the first phase of EIM’s ₹1,000 crore investment in Maharashtra, and EIM expects it to create over 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, along with work opportunities in design, R&D and IT.
Besides building vehicles, EIM is setting up nationwide battery swapping and charging infrastructure along major highways, ports and industrial complexes. It says these megawatt-scale hubs can swap batteries of EIM vehicles and other compatible makes in under seven minutes. They can also fast-charge any vehicle with a CCS-2 DC fast-charging socket.
EIM has technology partnerships with BAIC Foton Motor for electric heavy vehicles, battery maker CATL, and Shanghai Enneagon Energy Technology for robotic battery swapping systems. The company says Foton sold more than 650,000 units last year, CATL holds 39% of the global battery market, and Enneagon has built over 1,600 stations worldwide.
Mr. Narendra Murkumbi, Managing Director of the company thanked the Maharashtra government, EIM’s technology partners, its host RMK Spaces and its manufacturing team led by Mahesh Keskar. He said the company will now focus on building a nationwide network of charging and swapping stations to help India move from diesel to electric heavy goods transport.