With an EV boom occurring around the world, a lot of people are dreaming of building electric vehicles in India. Out of these people, there are the ones who have limited understanding about how to get it manufactured. For them, this blog provides basic information about electric vehicles and its manufacturing.
What is an Electric Vehicle?
An Electric Vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that is powered by electricity and driven by an electric motor. The electricity can be generated from various sources like battery, solar power, nuclear power, fuel cell, etc. The examples of electric vehicles include electric locomotives, electric cars, electric boats, electric 2 & 3 wheelers, etc.
This was just a basic idea about what an electric vehicle is. But to manufacture an electric vehicle, future entrepreneurs must know the components / parts of an electric vehicle. As these components are the only differentiator between EV and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), know-how of components will help them figure out the component that will become their core capability.
Electric vehicle component
Electric Vehicle powertrain components are a major differentiator to its counterpart IC Engine vehicle. The rest of the components used in electric vehicle are non-powertrain components and can be similar in IC engine vehicles
There are different types of electric vehicles. They are Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs).
If the powertrain architecture of all these types are considered, some components are common.
Electric Vehicle Components List
The common components:
- DC-AC Inverter
- Electric Machine (motor and generator)
Other components:
- Battery
- Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)
- Fuel Tank
- Fuel Cell
- Hydrogen Tank
- Ultracapacitor
- Transmission
- Flywheel
- Clutch
- DC-DC Converter
The powertrain architecture of these types will provide more clarification. Let’s have a look.
Abbreviations used
Single Source Powertrain Architecture
Series Hybrid Architecture
Parallel Hybrid Architecture
After getting an idea of the components present in EV, the next step will be to manufacture these components (both powertrain and non-powertrain). Once manufactured, these components can be assembled to produce an electric vehicle. Since, the entire powertrain components can’t be built in-house, it’s necessary to decide which components will be built in-house and which components will be outsourced i.e to build a supply chain. Let’s have a look at how existing OEMs are approaching this decision.
Making EV supply chain
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The first task in building electric vehicle supply chain is to figure out which components will be made in-house and which components need to be outsourced.
Let’s have a look only at powertrain components. Non-powertrain components are outsourced.
For startups or newcomers, the powertrain technology is at the core of their business. The decision of which components to be made in-house and which components to be outsourced depends on OEM-to-OEM. The well-established OEMs provide an example for make-vs-buy decisions. An article by Mckinsey shows that there are OEMs who manufacture entire powertrain components in-house and there are OEMs who completely outsource the manufacturing of powertrain components. Also, there are OEMs who manufacture some components in-house and outsource others.
Well, there are no set rules or procedures for performing this make-vs-buy decision. But the paper ‘A strategic model for the formulation of an effective make or buy decision’ can aid in performing make-vs-buy decisions. After performing this decision, components manufacturers will be needed through whom the components will be purchased. The below section shows the list of components / parts manufacturers in India and the products manufactured by them.
Electric vehicle parts manufacturers in India
Karkhana.io is India’s foremost B2B on-demand manufacturing platform. Our manufacturing capabilities encompasses 3D printing, CNC machining, injection molding, vacuum casting and sheet metal fabrication. Karkhana.io has capabilities to manufacture custom parts and components for electric vehicles.
We can manufacture 60% of components for 2W, 50% of components for 3W and 40% of components for 4W. The electric vehicle parts list manufactured by us include:- Gearbox, Body Panels, Battery Box, Gearbox Housing, Spline Shaft, Motor Mount, Vehicle Frames, Busbars, Fenders and many more. We work with startups, SMEs and enterprises from building prototypes till the production of the vehicle. Our unique product platform (app.karkhana.io) makes it easy for customers to submit RFQs within clicks, get quotations within days, get instant DFM feedback, get design and manufacturing counsel and track status of production and shipment.
Apart from us, there are other electric vehicle parts manufacturers in India. The table below shows the top 10 electric vehicle parts manufacturers or electric vehicle components manufacturers in India and the parts / components manufactured by them.
