iTEC India 2019 is Focusing On E-Mobility For The Community This Year

Mulling the next big revolution in the Automotive segment, Nitisha Dubey | Sub Editor | BISinfotech in a candid chat with Girish Ramaswamy, Head of Engineering at Continental & Chairperson Person Organising Committee iTEC India elaborates about iTEC INDIA 2019. The veteran, Ramaswamy underlines how iTEC India is aimed at helping the Indian automotive industry transition from conventional vehicles to advanced electrified vehicles. To all the big faces under one roof, we strive to exhibit iTEC India’s 2019 focus, faces and future. Don’t miss out the dates, 17, 18 and 19 December 2019 – Hotel Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, Bangalore. Edited Nub below. 

1. What will be this year, iTEC India’s prominent focus and the dates one should remember for this year’s conference?

iTEC INDIA 2019, International Transportation Electrification Conference India is aimed at helping the Indian automotive industry transition from conventional vehicles to advanced electrified vehicles. The conference brings together various stakeholders from the industry, policymakers, startups and technology experts across various domains of the automotive industry to identify solutions that can help India make the leap to e-mobility. The theme for the 2019 edition is “e-mobility for the community” since this paves the way for further transformation across the industry.

The conference will take place at Hotel Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, Bangalore on 17, 18 and 19 December 2019.

2. Key topics to be underlined during this focus and prominent partners, speakers?

Topic areas include but are not limited to:

• Power Electronics, Electric DriveTrain and Controls
• Battery, Battery Management Systems and Fuel Cells for EVs
• EV Architectures for Pure Electric, Hybrid Electric and Electric Range Extenders
• EV Charging Infrastructure, Smart Charging Solutions & Apps, Smart Grid, V2G and Renewable Integration
• Standards, Policies, and Regulations for Transportation Electrification; Emission Issues
• Electrification of Heavy-Duty and Off-Road Vehicles; Sea, Air and Space Vehicles,
• Smart Materials for EVs, Structural Design and Thermal Management;
• Components Optimization and Packaging Integration; Structural/Thermal CFD
• Challenges to meet Electrification Vision 2030; India Specific EV Solutions
• Smart and Sustainable e-Transportation Ecosystem/Smart cities; Challenges and Solutions
• Connected and Autonomous EVs; Remote Monitoring, Diagnostics and Data Analytics
• EV for Fleet – Fleet Management Systems, Route Characterization and Trip Planning
• EV Deployment Experiences, Battery Second Life and Recycling

The speaker list has some very notable names. The current speakers include.

Mr.Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog

Dr.Guenter Fraidl, Senior Vice President, Powertrain Systems, AVL Graz

Mr.Guillaume Gerondeau- Vice President Global Dassault Systems, Tokyo

Prof.Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIT Madras

Dr.Zed Tang, Global Solution Architect, ANSYS

Mr.Raghav Gulur VP& Head, ZF India

Mr.Sunil Motwani, Industry Director, Mathworks

Dr.Fei Gao, Professor, University of Technology of Belfort- Montbeliard, France

Mr. Steven Dom, Automotive Solution Manager, Siemens PLM, Belgium

Mr.Greg Harris, Global Leader for Electrification, HORIBA MIRA, Germany

Prof. Ashwin Khambadkone, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore

Mr. Aswin Mahesh, Co-Founder, Lithium Urban Technologies.

Mr.Georges Zissis, President, IEEE IAS, U.S.

Dr.Tomy Sebastian, IPP, IEEE IAS

Sponsors:

Title – AVL Graz

Principal Sponsors– Mahindra Electric and +Me

Platinum Sponsors – ANSYS and Dassault Systemes

Gold Sponsors – Horiba, MathWorks, Siemens and Vitesco

Silver Sponsor – Altair, Bosch, Valeo and ZF

Bronze Sponsor – Elektrobit, ETAS, TVS Lucas

3. Kindly share the current industry scenario and future vision of Power Electronics and Electronic drive.

According to WHO, among the world’s 15 most polluted cities, 14 are in India. Vehicular Pollution is a major contributing factor to this alarming number. As EVs are the sure-fire way to the future, Power Electronics will play a significant role in fulfilling the gap.
Power electronics is the application of solid-state electronics for the control and conversion of electric power. Applications of power electronics range in size from a switched-mode power supply in an AC adapter, battery chargers, audio amplifiers, fluorescent lamp ballasts, up to gigawatt-scale high voltage direct current power transmission systems used to interconnect electrical grids. Power electronic systems are found in virtually every electronic device. That being said, Power Electronics will have a pivotal role to play in the future of EVs.

However, modern-day PEEM technology is not sufficient to enable market-viable Pure and Hybrids. Programs such as the Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program aims to develop these technologies by setting strategic goals for Power Electronics and undertaking research projects that are carried out through collaboration among government, national laboratories, academia, and industry partners. Achieving the Power Electronics and Electrical Machine goals will require the development of new technologies. These new technologies must be compatible with high-volume manufacturing and must ensure high reliability, efficiency, and ruggedness. These technologies must also reduce cost, weight, and volume. Of all these challenges, cost is the greatest. PEEM project partners work together to ensure that technical attributes, vehicle-scale manufacturing, and cost sensitivities are addressed in a timely fashion and that the resulting technologies can be adopted by companies willing and able to supply products to automakers.

4. What would be the initiatives from government in order to promote, boost the EVs in India?

FAME II, announced this year, has brought a host of incentives for the industry to make the transition, including income tax rebates for buyers, lower customs duties on spare parts for such vehicles and tax breaks for local spare parts makers, as it seeks to transform the world’s third-largest oil importer into a global manufacturing hub for electric vehicles. This is a welcome step and should help gain interest in EVs. It would also help to have a good infrastructure supporting EVs of the future. Several state governments across the country have already begun working towards this as well.

5. Please share the upcoming initiative which can be taken from the automotive giants in the country in order to support the Pure and Hybrid electric vehicles?

The government’s commitment for a ‘Clean & Green’ India through proposals in the interim budget such as measures to reduce the use of fossil fuel in a phased manner by 2030 is expected to ensure faster adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and environmentally friendly mass transportation in the country. The emphasis laid on electric mobility in the ‘2030 Vision’ is aimed at increasing energy security, reducing oil import dependence and reducing vehicular pollution.

6. What are the most important facts which are positive elements in using e-vehicles?

₹1,000 crore has been earmarked for setting up charging stations for electric vehicles in India. The government has announced an outlay of ₹10,000 crore for FAME 2 to boost the number of electric vehicles in India. The government will offer incentives for electric buses, three-wheelers and four-wheelers to be used for commercial purposes.

 Plug-in hybrid vehicles and those with a sizeable lithium-ion battery and electric motor will also be included in the scheme and fiscal support offered depending on the size of the battery.

7. What are the key challenges and solutions with e-transportation and smart cities?

Any major transition to a new system would have some challenges, and the move to EVs is one of the biggest transitions the automotive industry across the globe is facing. There are some challenges that have to be addressed currently:

1. Insufficient charging infrastructure
2. Reliance on battery imports
3. Reliance on imported components and parts
4. Range anxiety among consumers
5. A higher cost of vehicle – the Indian consumer needs to slowly adapt to the idea of the initial cost of the vehicle being more than what is currently present

Many of these challenges are already being addressed by policymakers, governments and the industry. The consumer is also more favourable to EVs today as they grow aware of the efficiency of the vehicle, long-term savings and sustainability aspects of it.

Focusing on developing EVs for the community will also help create more awareness, set up the necessary infrastructure. This is one of the reasons why iTEC India 2019 is focusing on e-mobility for the community this year.

8. What are your long-term plans and expectations from this conference?

To bring a conscious change in the Automotive Industry through the help of thinkers, innovators and industry specialists. India is the 3rd largest oil importer currently. It would be great if we could transition from this to being self-sustainable in terms of our transport energy requirements. We are bringing together various thought leaders and hope to create a platform where we have discussions on multiple fronts – from addressing manufacturing challenges to identifying solutions for infrastructure development and also give startups a platform to put across their innovative solutions for the community.

9. What role can media play to promote these kind of one-of-a-kind knowledge base conferences?

The media has a strong role to play in shaping the choices of the general population, educating people and creating awareness. The media shares various perspectives and brings the messages of the thought leaders to the forefront. It also helps in bringing innovative solutions to the public, which could inspire further innovations from the people. The world cannot work in a silo any longer. We work collaboratively for a better future. And the media plays a very critical role in creating and connecting these collaborations.

10. Please share the versatile emission issues which can be addressed with the help of such e-mobility drives?   

India has taken several initiatives to keep emissions in check. However, India still produces its energy based on coal as raw material. Coal share in India’s primary energy consumption is as much as 56% and coal-fired plants generate 72% of India’s electricity. We need to move away from coal-based electricity production towards renewable sources to ensure that e-mobility becomes clean mobility in true sense. Platforms such as iTEC bring decision-makers and thought leaders under one roof to discuss such critical challenges and India specific solutions to forge a better tomorrow.