Researchers at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela have secured a patent for an indigenous hybrid energy storage architecture designed to alleviate current stress on electric vehicle batteries. Developed by a team led by Associate Professor Monalisa Patnaik alongside Dr Pradyumna Kumar Behera and Karan Gupta, the system integrates a supercapacitor with conventional battery packs to manage sudden power demands during vehicle acceleration, deceleration, and regenerative braking.
The technological innovation addresses a core limitation in modern electric mobility: the rapid capacity degradation caused by repeated high-current charge and discharge cycles on city roads. By positioning a supercapacitor to absorb and release instantaneous power spikes, the system allows the primary battery pack to operate under more stable thermal and electrical conditions, promising improved lifecycle economics for manufacturers and everyday consumers alike.
Single-Converter Engineering and Power Management
Explaining the underlying technical design of the architecture, Professor Monalisa Patnaik said: “The developed architecture has three major components: a converter that connects the battery and supercapacitor to the vehicle’s electrical system, an inductor placed in the electrical path, and a single control system that regulates the flow of power. In this design, one converter serves both the battery and the supercapacitor, reducing the number of switches and control components. The inductor regulates sudden changes in current, while the integrated control system manages the flow of energy during vehicle acceleration and deceleration.”
In practical driving conditions, this single-converter configuration ensures that whenever an electric vehicle experiences a sudden power surge, the supercapacitor assumes a significant share of the electrical load. This instantaneous buffering protects individual battery cells from sharp voltage fluctuations and current spikes. By streamlining hardware requirements and reducing control complexity, the research team has sought to offer a balanced trade-off between manufacturing cost, circuit efficiency, and long-term durability.
Low-Voltage Platform Focus and Industry Applications
While high-performance supercapacitor integration has previously been explored in luxury sports cars such as Lamborghini’s Sián FKP 37, the NIT Rourkela architecture has been specifically engineered for low-voltage electric vehicle platforms operating within the 24 to 60 volt DC range. This distinct engineering focus makes the technology immediately viable for smaller commercial and personal transport segments prevalent across developing markets.
Target applications extend across electric scooters, electric motorcycles, e-rickshaws, cargo tricycles, and compact campus utility vehicles. Beyond traditional road transport, the research team indicates that the hybrid storage design can be deployed in automated guided vehicles, industrial warehouse carts, DC microgrids, and renewable-energy-integrated charging stations, broadening its commercial utility across the clean energy ecosystem.
Global Context and India's Evolving EV Landscape
The pursuit of hybrid energy storage systems is not entirely new, with automotive researchers in Japan, the United States, and Europe having studied the synergy between batteries and supercapacitors for years. However, domestic engineering efforts in India are increasingly shifting away from basic vehicle manufacturing volumes toward component-level durability and the enhancement of service life for every deployed battery pack.
As India’s electric mobility ecosystem expands rapidly, battery cost, thermal performance, and degradation remain critical consumer hurdles. Technologies that extract higher efficiency and extended operating hours from existing chemical compositions without requiring expensive raw material overhauls carry substantial implications for national supply chains, helping domestic manufacturers build greater vehicle reliability.
Moving from Laboratory Innovation to Commercial Deployment
The primary challenge facing the NIT Rourkela team now involves transitioning the patented architecture from controlled laboratory testing environments to real-world industrial production. If electric vehicle manufacturers adopt the single-converter design at scale, the technology could significantly lower maintenance frequencies and enhance consumer confidence in second-hand EV valuations.
Ultimately, the development underscores a broader maturation within Indian scientific institutions, where applied engineering is increasingly tailored to solve regional mobility constraints. Whether small commercial fleet operators and electric two-wheeler manufacturers will integrate the architecture into forthcoming production lines remains the defining test for its long-term commercial viability.
