Seeing India rev up its electric vehicle (EV) space, Shell Inc’s arm Shell Lubricants is set to roll out fluids for EVs that would be suitable for India’s climatic conditions, and this could be good news, considering the battery fire incidents in India recently.
According to Shell Lubricants’ global executive vice-president Machteld De Haan and its India head, Debanjali Sengupta, the firm would initially import the EV fluids. However, at a later stage, Shell Lubricants will manufacture the fluids in the country.
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| Shell fluids will cool EV batteries, making them safer for Indian conditions -- Source: Shell.com. |
What the heat transfer fluid — or coolant in other words — does is to keep the batteries cool via thermal management.
This plan by Shell could come as a relief as EV batteries have been catching fire or exploding (in rare cases, though) owing to overheating of faulty cells.
“Thermal management is of utmost importance for electric vehicles. If you can keep the battery cool, it would not be overheating (or catching fire),” said De Haan.
Shell’s EV product is available worldwide and the company is currently in talks with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India to strike a deal, revealed Sengupta.
“When they (OEMs) are ready, we can bring in the fluid. We have rolled out pilots and trials; so things are moving,” Sengupta said.
Speaking on Shell’s diversification plans, De Haan said the company is looking beyond its original focus of just lubricants to become a global lubricant as well as a fluid solutions company.
“We plan to diversify from friction management to thermal management. We have enough experience in immersion cooling and can help data centres slash their energy consumption and carbon footprint. It is an area where we are doing quite a few pilots today in the Indian market,” De Haan said.
In 2019, Shell had rolled out its first electric vehicle fluid, and it still develops the product in tie-up with OEMs worldwide, Sengupta added.
With electrification of the mobility space, Shell Lubricants is also eyeing transmission fluids and e-greases, besides EV fluids.
With this diversification, Shell sees its business in India doubling over a period of five years.
It hopes to climb the ladder from the 10th position to fifth place among lube manufacturers globally.
“Indian operations saw a healthy 12 per cent growth last year compared to 2019. Things look good even in 2022, which could be better than 2021. India is an important market for us and we want to double our business in the country,” added De Haans.
In July, the company rolled out the Shell engine oil for three-wheelers. It comes with active cleansing tech, which keeps engines clean and protected even in the soaring heat.
This multi-purpose engine oil can be utilised for compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petrol as well as diesel engines.
Shell Lubricants ramped up its production capacity at its lubricant oil-blending unit in Taloja, Maharashtra. It now plans to grow its India and South Asia-specific products.
India’s move towards electric vehicles is steadily gaining ground with 1.33 million registrations already.
So, Shell Lubricants’ plan on fluids for EVs is good news for India because it could pave the way for a safer electric vehicle experience.
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