The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFC), Government of India, has issued a notification on rules for battery waste management in view of the shift to electric vehicles. Anticipating a need to have an organised channel for the safe disposal and recycling of batteries, the rules, called the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, are applicable to the producer, dealer, consumer, entities involved in collection, segregation, transportation, refurbishment and recycling of waste batteries. 

All types of batteries, regardless of their chemistry, shape, volume, weight, material composition and use are covered under the rules. The rules also have a provision for penal action in case of a violation and imposition of environmental compensation. The ministry has also set a minimum recovery percentage target for recovered materials out of dry weight batteries. 

The recovered materials will be then used to produce new batteries. For FY2024-25, the recovery target is set at 70 percent whereas for FY2025-26, it is 80 percent. The target for FY2026-27 is 90 percent. Mentioning that the recovery target may be reviewed by the committee once every four years to revisit the minimum levels of recovered battery materials in light of technical and scientific progress and emerging new technologies in waste management, the notification is expected to contribute towards enhancing each and every EV’s cost to the environment in India. This is especially in connection with the fact that nearly 1.4 million EVs as of July 2022 are said to operate in India if the data shared by the ministry of road transport and highways is relied upon. More than half of this volume is claimed to consist of electric three-wheelers followed by two-wheelers and passenger cars. 

The PLI scheme and other policy changes in terms of manufacture and sale of electric vehicles, it is clear that a strong battery ELV and disposal policy has to be in place. From the cost to the environment point of view, a policy extension in terms of the manufacture of such batteries locally down to the fuel cell level should also taking into view the ability of the battery to perform efficiently through out its lifecycle, thus staying alive for longer and when it does die, it should be recyclable to a great extent. 

Dr Akshay Singhal, Founder and CEO of Log9 Materials, averred. “The newly introduced Battery Waste Management standards by the Government under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) concept addresses two important concerns. An efficient and effective waste management of all Li-Ion batteries that are nearing the end of their useful life and are expected to end up in landfills in a few years, avoiding any residual pollution impact. Second is the emphasis on investing in and nurturing the recycling of such used batteries, reducing the reliance on fresh resource mining.” 

Shubham Vishvakarma, CEO and Chief of Process Engineering of Metastable Materials, said, “The Battery Waste Management Rules announced by the Government of India is an excellent and much-needed step towards bringing to the fore innovations and myriad growth opportunities for the battery waste management and battery treatment space in our country, especially at a time when the ongoing EV boom in India is leading us to increasing concerns on e-waste.” “Under the new Rules notified, the Government has mandated a minimum percentage of recovery of various materials from end-of-life batteries, which is bound to enable the growth of novel business models such as urban mining in order to reduce India’s foreign dependency on procuring raw materials for EV batteries and other types of batteries,” he added. 

Ashok Sudrik, Chief Scientist, Infinite Orbit Research and Development Pvt Ltd, commented, “The Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, were much needed and we are happy that government has started taking cognizance of the hazardous waste being created and the recycling or waste collection. Other than waste management recycling rules, there is a need for manufacturers to incorporate extension of battery life technologies, keep the lithium content minimal and develop innovative cell chemistry. The life of a battery should be 4000 to 6000 cycles, which means a life spane of about 10 to 15 years. BaaS (Battery as a Service) concept with swappable batteries will be a big contributor to the ultimate goal of keeping cost to the environment low.”

In other parts of the world

In Canada, Li-Cycle will begin constructing a USD 175 million plant in Rochester, N.Y., for recycling of lithium-ion batteries. On the grounds of what used to be the Eastman Kodak complex, the plant will be the largest of its kind in North America with an eventual capacity of 25 metric kilotons of input material and a capability to recover 95 percent or more of cobalt, nickel, lithium and other valuable elements through zero-wastewater, zero-emissions process. Ajay Kochhar, Co-founder and CEO, Li-Cycle, said, “We'll be one of the largest domestic sources of nickel and lithium, as well as the only source of cobalt in the United States."  

In May 2022, Hydrovolt, the largest battery recycling plant in Europe started operations in Fredrikstad, Norway. A joint venture between two Norwegian companies – Hydro and Northvolt, the plant has the capacity to process 12,000 tonnes of battery packs per year, enough for the entire end-of-life battery market in Norway currently. Claimed to have the capability to recover 95 percent of the materials used in an EV battery including plastics, copper, aluminum and ‘black mass’, a powder containing various elements inside lithium-ion batteries like nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium. 

Not just in Europe or US, the rise of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and associated battery gigafactories is pushing forward the creation of a battery recycling value chain. It is a matter of debate whether it got to be a close-loop or an open-loop design in terms of sourcing of batteries to recycle and to put the resulting material to good use so that the cost to the environment is kept minimal. As the demand for use of ‘green’ electricity source gathers pace the world over, on the other end of the spectrum, which involved the end-of-life vehicle for EVs, the demand for recycling in increasing partly due to regulations – the EU regulations have just intensified – and partly by a demand for re-use of materials due to geo-political reasons as well. A strong desire to localise supply chains and safeguard critical raw materials are also the driving factors.  

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South Korea-based Stradvision, a company specialising in AI-based vision perception technology, has been selected by a global commercial vehicle manufacturer to deploy its SVNet software across its Indian vehicle lineup.

The programme focuses on fleet-scale deployment of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in a market where perception software must balance technical reliability with cost-efficiency.

The company stated that the Indian commercial vehicle sector requires ADAS solutions capable of operating on resource-constrained hardware while maintaining performance in high-density traffic.

SVNet is engineered to detect and classify objects in mixed-traffic environments, including two-wheelers, three-wheelers and pedestrians. This software architecture allows the OEM to implement functions such as automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning and lane departure warning across various models using a single software stack.

The deployment is structured to allow the manufacturer to standardise its perception platform while adjusting for model-specific hardware.

Till date, Stradvision has deployed approximately 5 million units of SVNet globally, providing the production maturity required for high-volume commercial vehicle programmes. This project indicates a shift in the automotive industry towards perception solutions that prioritises scalability and operational efficiency across diverse market conditions.

Philip Vidal, CBO, Stradvision, said, "India's commercial vehicle segment is one of the most consequential ADAS markets opening right now. The scale of the fleet, the complexity of the traffic environment, and the cost requirements make it a genuine test of whether perception software can perform where it matters most. SVNet was built for exactly this kind of deployment, and this program is a strong validation of that."

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Einride AB, the freight technology company, has appointed General (Ret.) Keith B. Alexander to its Board of Directors. The appointment coincides with the formal establishment of a dedicated defence business aimed at providing autonomous driving capabilities to military organisations globally.

General Alexander, a current member of the Amazon Board of Directors, previously served as the Director of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and was the Founding Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command.

The move into the defence sector follows the completion of autonomous pilot contracts with a European NATO-allied organisation. Einride intends to utilise its vehicle-agnostic autonomous system, the Einride Driver, which can be integrated into new vehicle platforms or retrofitted onto existing fleets.

This technology licensing model operates alongside the company’s Freight-Capacity-as-a-Service offering, which manages electric heavy-duty fleets through AI optimisation software and charging infrastructure.

The company currently operates in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, serving more than 30 enterprise customers. Einride reports approximately USD 92 million in expected annual recurring revenue from signed contracts. The firm is also progressing toward a public listing through a proposed business combination with Legato Merger Corp. III, expected to conclude during the first half of 2026.

General Keith B. Alexander, said, "Autonomous systems operating in defence environments face a distinct threat landscape, where adversaries probe for vulnerabilities in communication, navigation, and control. What brought me to Einride is its strong operational foundation, proven safety record and real operational experience. My role is helping ensure Einride's systems meet the standards required by NATO-allied and U.S. defence organisations and scale from pilots to full programs."

Robert Falck, Chairman of Einride's Board of Directors, said, "General Alexander has spent decades operating at the intersection of technology, security, and high-stakes decision-making. As Einride continues to expand its offering to the defence sectors, his knowledge and experiences are exactly what we need in the boardroom."

Roozbeh Charli, CEO, Einride, added, “Having validated our technology in a defence context, we're now moving with intent: recruiting specialised talent, developing defence-specific expertise, and bringing in leadership with deep domain knowledge. Appointing General Alexander to our Board of Directors is one concrete example of that, his experience directly strengthening our strategic direction in this space.”

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Hyundai Mobis has established an integrated data management and validation system designed to test electronic control units (ECUs) for software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and autonomous driving.

The platform links real-world road test data with simulators to replicate driving scenarios, addressing the requirement from global carmakers for data-based validation results spanning tens of thousands of hours.

The system utilises a platform that connects multiple simulators in parallel to reflect various validation scenarios.

Hyundai Mobis intends to expand this infrastructure to link up to 60 simulators, which would allow the company to complete 10,000 hours of evaluation within a one-week period. This process typically requires several years of physical test driving under standard real-world conditions.

By integrating sensors mounted on test vehicles, the system collects data from diverse driving and parking environments. It can replicate specific conditions that are difficult to reproduce consistently in reality, such as nighttime driving, heavy rain and unexpected road incidents, by combining them with virtual simulations.

This approach is intended to assess the recognition performance and stability of radar, cameras, LiDAR and ultrasonic sensors.

Hyundai Mobis will use this system to validate algorithms for autonomous driving sensors and various ECUs as part of its strategy to acquire global orders for SDV components. The company plans to enhance the system through data integration and collaboration with its research hubs worldwide.

Ko Bongchul, Chief of Automotive Electronics R&D at Hyundai Mobis, said, “In the era of SDVs and autonomous driving, evaluation and validation are just as critical as technology development. We expect that establishing this evaluation and validation system will simultaneously expand the speed and scope of validation, thereby significantly boosting our competitiveness in securing orders for core SDV components.”

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TomTom, the location technology specialist, has announced the appointment of Mike Schoofs as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Management Board. The decision was formalised following approval by shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM also confirmed the appointment of Co-founder and former CEO Harold Goddijn to the Supervisory Board, alongside Joep van Beurden, while Derk Haank was reappointed as a member.

Schoofs joined TomTom in 2005 after holding positions at KPN-Orange and Samsung. During his tenure, he has served in various commercial leadership roles globally and within specific regions. In 2023, he assumed the role of Chief Revenue Officer, where he managed the company’s commercial strategy and expanded its enterprise business footprint. A Belgian national based in Amsterdam, Schoofs also serves as an advisor to several European startups.

The leadership transition occurs as the company focuses on the integration of artificial intelligence within location intelligence and the provision of data for its partners. TomTom’s strategy remains focused on scaling its commercial presence across all business segments under the new executive structure.

Derk Haank, Chairman of TomTom’s Supervisory Board, said, “Mike brings extensive commercial leadership experience and deep knowledge of TomTom’s business, built over more than two decades with the company. We are confident that he is well positioned to lead TomTom in its next phase.”

Mike Schoofs, said, “I’m excited to lead TomTom at a moment when location intelligence is reaching a decisive turning point, accelerated by AI and the growing need for trusted, real‑world data. I look forward to creating lasting impact for our customers and our partners.”

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