Que: Tell Energetica India readers in brief about Lohum including its vision etc.

Ans: Lohum, founded in March 2018, is the world’s largest integrated Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery manufacturer and recycler, working towards lowering costs of electrification – economically and environmentally.

We operate with a goal to create thoughtful technology to make enduring battery power accessible to everyone, through sustainability.

Over the last three years, we have been able to create the technology and infrastructure to manufacture, reuse and recycle Li-Ion batteries with a capacity of 300 MHh per annum in Delhi NCR. Our first-life battery manufacturing is by far our leading business unit, but we are already the global leader in battery re-use for mobility applications with over two million operational miles so far.

We have raised a $7 mn investment from institutional investors led by Baring PE Partners India earlier this year. We continue to rapidly grow and are very excited to have over 150 employees.

Que: How do you think the cost of electric vehicles goes down to become cheaper than conventional vehicles?

Ans: The higher upfront cost is an impediment to the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country. On the contrary, in terms of overall ownership cost, an EV is already at par or below ICE alternatives in multiple vehicle segments.

The key to lowering the cost of an electric vehicle is through bringing down the cost of the battery because it contributes to a highly significant cost component of the vehicle. We believe that technology and rapidly increasing production volume will contribute to the downward movement of EV prices.

At Lohum, in line with our mission to bring down the costs of electrification, we have been able to offer better cost propositions to our customers through the first-life and second-life battery solutions. Since we have re-use and recycle capability, we offer a unique buy-back guarantee to lower the cost to the customer and ensure the battery is reused or recycled properly.

Que: Shed some light on your educational background, achievements and experiences across sectors, along with other founders.

Ans: I studied engineering at IIT Kanpur, before heading to Stanford University. I briefly worked in the space industry in the US, designing heat shields for re-entry vehicles, and moved to a startup - Kintana as the technical lead.

After working for these years, I went back to Harvard University to earn an MBA and returned to India to work in the PE space for a while.

At this juncture, the potential of electronic waste looked exciting. I worked with few companies on managing this waste and looked around for the scope and capabilities in the country.

Justin and I were seeing a trend of tons of li-ion batteries moving into the waste stream combined with the early signs of how battery power could radically change two of the largest global industries – energy and mobility.

Therefore, with a vision to develop the right technology and infrastructure for accelerating electrification through sustainability, we started laying the foundation for Lohum.

Que: How do you plan to market your product offerings?

Ans: As the world moves to adopt clean energy technologies, Li-ion has become the mainstay of the energy storage solutions in all forms of electrification, be it electronics or powering machines in the telecom sector to EVs across the globe. If we use only what’s been built or planned to date, Li-ion cell production should increase from 747 GWh today to 2,492 GWh by 2030.

Looking at the faster adoption of EVs, there will be an exponential increase in demand for Li-ion batteries. Early forecasts project the demand for its raw materials to grow by 13X for Lithium and Nickel, about 12X for Graphite and 6X for Cobalt by 2028.

These forecasts point at the challenges that the battery manufacturing companies will jostle to meet their demands of raw materials for manufacturing. Meeting this demand through mining will only add up to the problems, economically and environmentally.

Through our recycling processes and repurposing Li-ion batteries for their second life, Lohum is working towards providing solutions to the challenges of burgeoning demand for the batteries and their raw materials.

Our goal is to keep the battery operating as long as possible and then recycle the materials.

This bodes well for the environment with zero-waste disposal, and our customers by reducing battery costs with repurposed second-life batteries.

Que: As an entrant what kind of challenges you have faced?

Ans: I think the surprise has been how fast the industry is changing. We knew we were entering a radical demand shift in mobility and energy storage, but the pace has been astonishing. Even though we continue increasing capacity, meeting the huge demand domestically and internationally has been challenging.

Also, most customers still have limited access to financing options. More robust credit solutions could increase adoption.

Que: Kindly share details about Lohum’s investment and funding? Any new plans?

Ans: We are in the process of setting up a 3 GWh capacity single-location integrated Li-ion battery manufacturing and recycling factory in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh within the next 18 months. The integrated factory will integrate the battery manufacturing capacity of 1 GWh/ 1,000 MWh and 2 GWh/ 2,000 MWh of recycling per annum.

We plan to undertake investments to the tune of Rs 300 crore to set up this integrated factory.

Earlier this year, we raised USD 7 million in a new round of funding led by Baring Private Equity Partners (BPEP).

Que: Present state of mind.

Ans: We are witnessing exceptionally exciting times with technology playing a central role in the growth and awareness around clean energy.

With the technological advancements and policy push made in this space, we see India gaining a greater role as a leader and change-maker in the climate change arena.

We are looking to play our role and contribute in a greater capacity to the country’s growing influence in the clean energy ecosystem.