Within the journey towards a sustainable and self-reliant India, electrical mobility is not only a technological shift—it’s a nationwide crucial. As we speed up in direction of our sustainable mobility ambitions with Electrical automobiles (EV), together with 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, 4-wheelers and business automobiles, we should additionally pause to look at the foundations on which this transition rests. One such basis is the electrical motor, the center of each EV. And inside it lies a quiet however essential vulnerability: our dependence on uncommon earth magnets.These magnets are important for everlasting magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs), which energy nearly all of electrical automobiles. The motor is not only a part, it’s the core of propulsion, changing electrical vitality into movement. The magnets inside PMSMs, sometimes constructed from neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium, are what give these motors their excessive torque and effectivity. However in addition they make them susceptible to geopolitical and provide chain shocks. Magnets should not restricted to propulsion. They’re embedded in energy steering, braking methods, and even wiper motors.
In the present day, China provides almost 90% of the world’s uncommon earth magnets, and over 80% of India’s magnet imports come from China. In 2024 alone, India’s imports of EV batteries and uncommon earth magnets from China had been estimated at $7 billion, underscoring the dimensions of our dependency.
China’s current export restrictions on seven uncommon earth parts should not merely a commerce choice—they’re a strategic lever that has already begun to disrupt the worldwide EV provide chain. Some even opine that this transfer may create a provide chain challenge worse than the semiconductor scarcity in 2021-23. Indian producers now face delays, elevated prices, and bureaucratic hurdles. This has led to manufacturing bottlenecks and heightened uncertainty. For a rustic that aspires to steer in clear mobility, it is a wake-up name to construct self-reliant alternate options.
Exploring alternate options: A shared business crucial
India’s EV market is rising quickly. In 2023, over 1.5 million EVs had been bought throughout segments. In 2024, passenger EV manufacturing alone rose by 22.5% year-over-year, reaching roughly 125,500 models. Wanting forward, 2025 is predicted to mark a big inflection point- manufacturing of battery-powered passenger automobiles is projected to develop by 140.2%, reaching 301,400 models. With projections suggesting 80 million EVs on Indian roads by 2030, and most of them counting on PMSMs, the magnet challenge is not only a technical problem—it’s a systemic concern.Recognizing this, a number of world OEMs have begun exploring magnet-free motor applied sciences. Globally, corporations like Tesla, GM, Mercedez Benz, Nissan, and Renault, are exploring or carried out in rare-earth-free designs. In India, OEMs corresponding to Tata Motors, Mahindra, and Ashok Leyland have publicly acknowledged the necessity to diversify motor applied sciences and cut back magnet dependency. This shift is not only about danger mitigation—it’s about strategic innovation.
Uncommon magnets free induction motors additional optimised by software program
At KPIT, we anticipated this problem years in the past. We started exploring an alternate path—one which would scale back our reliance on imported supplies and improve our management over core applied sciences. That path led us to induction motors.
Induction motors are sturdy, confirmed, and importantly, freed from uncommon earth magnets. Nevertheless, they’ve historically lagged behind PMSMs in effectivity. That is the place innovation performs a transformative position. By embedding intelligence into the motor’s management methods by superior software program and electronics, now we have labored to bridge the effectivity hole, and in particular purposes, have even surpassed it.
Such induction motor answer is just not solely magnet-free but additionally well-suited for Indian driving circumstances characterised by stop-and-go visitors, variable masses, and various terrains. This strategy makes it already viable for business automobiles like 9-meter buses and 11-ton vans, the place the slight weight penalty of induction motors is negligible. These automobiles type the spine of India’s logistics and public transport methods. In time, we envision designing options all the way in which right down to smaller automobiles, making this innovation scalable throughout all the EV spectrum. This aligns carefully with the imaginative and prescient of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
A name for the Indian automotive ecosystem
The Automotive Element Producers Affiliation (ACMA) has rightly known as for a nationwide technique to safe essential supplies. I might add that we additionally want a technique to innovate round these supplies—to design methods that aren’t simply environment friendly, but additionally resilient and scalable.
Along with the induction motors strategy, different different motors corresponding to non-rare earth PM Assisted SynRel motor, high-speed motors, present excited Synchronous motors mixed with Superior Controls might be developed to fulfill software particular necessities and constraints. These must be labored upon by the Indian automotive ecosystem together with the OEMs, Tier 1s and expertise corporations like KPIT.
India stands at a defining second in its mobility journey. The alternatives we make right this moment will form not simply our roads, however our financial system and world standing. Let’s sit up for a future the place India leads not by following the crushed path, however by creating its personal.
