The Role of Energy Storage and Smart Charging in Accelerating EV Adoption

The advancement of electric mobility in the future is driven by the energy sources powering EVs, rather than just the vehicles themselves. Energy storage ensures stability and reliability, while smart charging provides intelligence and efficiency.

December 31, 2025. By News Bureau

Tags:

articles

Lithium-ion batteries

Power management

EV Charging Stations

In India, the electric vehicle (EV) journey has become far less exploratory than it was in the past; factors such as rising fuel prices, regulatory support, and climate change goals have combined to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles throughout the personal, commercial and public transportation segments. However, there are still two significant barriers that are stalling this transition that are related to each other - the availability of reliable energy storage and the development of an intelligent charging infrastructure - these two components provide the foundation for the establishment of a scalable and resilient Electric Vehicle ecosystem.

Energy Storage: The Basis of Confidence in EVs

Batteries are essential to the operation of every electric vehicle. Batteries determine not only how far an EV can travel on a full charge, but they also help determine the cost of operating an EV and are a major safety concern as well as their longevity and operational capability. In the last decade, advancements have improved the energy density, charge speed and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries. These developments have removed the first major reason (concern over range) for the lack of acceptance of electric vehicles.

The function of energy storage technology extends beyond just the vehicles themselves. The use of large-scale stationary energy storage solution is rapidly increasing at charging station locations, along with depots or commercial facilities where charging is taking place. The stationary solutions are used to help create energy balance with the electric grid, store renewable energy outside peak times and provide energy availability for an electric vehicle during peak charging timeframes. In areas with inconsistent electrical grid stability, these storage technologies make it possible to provide reliable charging to EVs instead of unpredictable charging, thus creating an overall better EV experience.

Battery prices are declining rapidly around the world, and as a result, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for EVs is also being positively impacted by energy storage technology as improved performance by improved battery performance (i.e., longer life and improved thermal management) and by second life uses of EV batteries (i.e., repurposing them for stationary energy storage) as well.

Smart Charging: From Power Supply to Power Management

Power management's smart charging function allows you to determine how much energy you receive in a more efficient manner than other types of systems that only provide power. The traditional approach is to provide one electrical connection to supply electricity, whereas smart charging creates a sophisticated system.

"Smart charging" systems use connected devices, data, and software to connect charging behaviour to electric grid conditions, energy costs, and use patterns of the vehicles charged. Smart charging allows for operations at a time when electricity is less expensive (off-peak) or cleaner (less Carbon Impact), thereby allowing fleets to operate in a manner that allows them to take advantage of these benefits. Additionally, smart charging creates a balanced flow of energy within a fleet of vehicles, resulting in a more balanced operation of the fleet without putting excessive strain on the electrical grid.

As electric vehicle charging stations and growing numbers of EVs compete for limited electric capacity in urban areas where EVs are located close to each other, Smart Charging is an essential technology. EV charging stations that have Dynamic Load Management (DLM) have the ability to share the available electrical capacity across multiple EVs equally, thus preventing power outages and minimising the need for additional work on the electrical grid. This level of intelligence allows charging stations to act as responsive energy nodes rather than being simply static charging stations.

Integrating Renewables and the Grid

Energy storage and smart charging can integrate EV growth with renewable energy through the use of solar and wind power. Renewable sources of energy have an intermittent power generation profile. However, pairing renewable energy generation with energy storage and smart charging enables the reliable availability of renewable power to support EV infrastructure. Charging stations can utilise stored renewable energy, allowing for less reliance on fossil fuel-based electricity and lower emissions throughout the lifecycle of the vehicle.

Advanced concepts such as V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) could enhance the relationship between renewable energy and EVs. EVs may serve as distributed storage devices that provide energy back to the electricity grid at peak demand periods. Although V2G is not widely deployed in India yet, it does demonstrate how energy storage and smart charging systems are increasingly interwoven between the transportation sector and the energy sector.

Accelerating EV Adoption Via Reliability and Scalability

To accelerate EV adoption at a higher level, we must ensure that EVs are reliable. Users need to be able to depend on the fact that their vehicle will be ready when they want to use it, be charged at the lowest price possible, and have an abundance of charging facilities in their region. By utilising energy storage to guarantee that there is enough energy available for customers to charge their EVs when needed, and by utilising smart charging to ensure customers can charge their EVs as efficiently as possible, we can reduce the uncertainty that customers experience when using EVs. This will give users greater confidence in the reliability of their EVs as they make their transition to having more sustainable forms of transportation.

With EV adoption expanding beyond major metropolitan areas into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets in India, the benefits of energy storage and smart charging become even more critical as a means to eliminate the limitations imposed by the grid and improve the opportunity for EV adoption in new areas.

The Way Ahead

The advancement of electric mobility in the future is driven by the energy sources powering EVs, rather than just the vehicles themselves. Energy storage ensures stability and reliability, while smart charging provides intelligence and efficiency. As both energy storage and smart charging continue to mature and develop into an integrated solution to increase the reliability and availability of energy, they will play a major role in accelerating the adoption of EVs and ultimately create a future in which clean mobility is the standard way of transporting goods, people and animals.

- Abhinav Kalia, CEO & Co-founder, ARC Electric