| … says Amit Kekare, Vice President and Head – eMobility, Smart Infrastructure, Siemens. In an interview with Neha Basudkar Ghate, he outlines the significance, hurdles, and trends in the e-mobility sector, harnessing India’s technological prowess to present a holistic Make in India portfolio.
1- Siemens is actively involved in transforming various industries. Can you share insights into how the eMobility business, under your leadership, is contributing to the transformation of the eMobility market in the Region India?
Siemens’ history in eMobility began more than a century ago, with the development of an electric car ‘Elektrische Viktoria’. Siemens has been actively involved in the e-mobility infrastructure business over the past decade and has now increased its focus on charging infrastructure.
India is now amid a major transformation in the eMobility space and is among the largest automotive markets moving away from fossil fuel-based vehicles. As per the Economic Survey 2023 report emissions from vehicles contribute to ~ 30 per cent to the urban pollution levels – hence, efforts to curb this would lead to significant improvement in air quality. This has been a driver for the growth of eMobility market in India, which is poised to grow at 50% CAGR from 2023-30.
To address this fast-growing market with competitive and quality products, Siemens has invested in an EV charger manufacturing set up in India. This setup enables Siemens to strengthen its capability in the electric vehicle charging infrastructure space in India, expand its local market presence and enables the creation of an export hub. Siemens now boasts of a comprehensive Made in India portfolio that caters to the specific needs of the Indian market, namely a wide-range of low & high-power ratings and parallel charging with multiple charge-points. This move has provided Siemens with a strong platform to provide cost competitive charging infrastructure with reliable technology and a sustainable supply chain.
Siemens has also strengthened its India operations, with the required talent pool, with the aim of providing research support and also global service operations based out of India.
2- Collaboration often plays a crucial role in advancing technologies. How does Siemens foster collaborations and partnerships within the eMobility ecosystem, and how does this contribute to the overall growth and success of the business?
Amit Kekare, Vice President and Head – eMobility, Smart Infrastructure, Siemens
Siemens has always believed in an integrated approach, fostering sustainable collaborations. Our aim is to build a unique ecosystem that promotes accessibility and equity in the electric vehicle landscape. The eMobility ecosystem is evolving and highly interdisciplinary for which we require partners with different competencies, high level of expertise and profound technical knowledge in various fields such as mechanical, electrical, software and power electronics.
By leveraging both global and local expertise, Siemens and its partners are actively engaged in delivering large-scale depot projects, fleet charging and more. An example of this is our partnership with SWITCH Mobility (subsidiary of Ashok Leyland). With this partnership we have offered our customer e-MaaS (eMobility-as-a-Service) enabling customers to transform their ICE fleet to EV fleet. e-MaaS is the combination of eBuses + eCharging + eOperations + Finance.
By keeping the holistic view of Sustainability in mind, our global products have started following Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), to give a transparency to our customers about impact through complete value-chain of products lifecycle. Thus, driving sustainability not only through applications but also through design-production-logistic phases to achieve its true goal towards carbon footprint reduction.
3- Every industry faces challenges. In the eMobility sector, what are the key challenges that Siemens is actively addressing, and how do you foresee turning these challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation?
The eMobility sector is notably faced with a few challenges such as:
- Implementing future-ready and interoperable charging infrastructure and upstream grid infrastructure: Multiple technologies are being developed by companies operating in this space. This could lead to a situation of different types of infrastructure which is not interoperable by various electric vehicles.
- Comprehensive eMobility portfolio offerings across various vehicle segments (besides HW, other SW topics): Similarly, the rating requirements of charging infrastructure is designed from the requirements of the vehicle. The process of creating charging infrastructure that seamlessly supports different types and speeds of charging requirements needs to be evaluated.
- Resilience and quality of the eMobility portfolio: to foster the growth of eMobility sector, the reliance on imported technology needs to be reduced and a local ecosystem that enables supply of quality products (adhering to required standards) needs to be enhanced.
Given our foundational strength in technology, we address and partner with our customer for each of these topics. With the increase in electricity demand, managing reliable power supply is a major concern. Our existing grid technology portfolio helps optimize energy consumption and provides stable power supply as required by the infrastructure.
E-Charging infrastructure projects require a combination of diligent planning and selection of reliable service providers to provide a robust EV charging infrastructure. Our vast network of existing solution and service partners, enables us to rapidly deploy efficient and flexible charging infrastructure, across the nation with state-of-the-art and reliable product offerings. This strategic approach has enabled Siemens to be at the forefront of overcoming challenges in the dynamic eMobility landscape.
4- What emerging trends in the eMobility sector do you believe will significantly impact the market in the coming years, and how is Siemens positioning itself to stay at the forefront of these trends?
Some of the emerging trends in the EV charging domain include high power charging using Automated Charging Devices, wireless charging, bi-directional charging, megawatt charging and energy-storage integration with charging stations. We are at the forefront of these technology trends having already developed and deployed products & solutions with these technologies globally. We are also working closely with leading OEMs to demonstrate its applications in the Indian ecosystem based on relevant use-cases.
5- Siemens operates on a global scale. What are the company’s plans for further market expansion in the eMobility sector in India, and are there specific regions or markets that are of strategic interest?
Siemens has been the pioneer of eMobility Technology and has been driving this revolution through implementation of our technology across various regions across the world. In India, Siemens has been operating for more than 150+ years. In these years, Siemens has enhanced its local manufacturing capabilities – local value-creation is an important factor for addressing the dynamic & competitive scenario. Each manufacturing and R&D facility in Siemens is aimed to be world-class and ready-for serving local and global markets. Similar, approach would be explored for eMobility as per the business requirements.
The advanced talent pool in India is actively contributing to our Global R&D activities in eMobility. Additionally, the global installed based is being supported by a Network Operating Center (NOC) by leveraging advanced remote monitoring capabilities & expert knowledge base from India.
