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As befits the market leader, Exide keeps India & World abreast of the developments in battery technology. It’s sophisticated R&D Centre in Kolkata employs the best scientists and technologists and equips them with the tools of fundamental and applications research.

The center spearheads technology transfer, matched production engineering and complete system design. Apart from developmental research, it acts as a funnel for absorbing technology and adopting it to suit operating conditions in respective markets. Ultimately, the effort translates into complete satisfaction of customers’ needs.

Exide recognizes the importance of technology & innovations. In order to maintain technological leadership, Exide R&D have been actively developing differentiated battery technologies for tropical countries. The Exide R&D has been recognized by the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India since April 1977.

R&D work is carried out on various facets of lead-acid battery technology, which include development of new products for applications such as Automotive, Motorcycle, VRLA, Telecom, UPS, Railways, Defense, etc. primarily to make the product range internationally competitive. In addition, the R&D is engaged in projects embracing process technology aimed at - improving the product quality & consistency, production efficiency and material utilization. Furthermore, R&D program includes improvement and indigenisation of materials such as metals, alloys, plastics, etc. R&D emphasis is on studying and improving the environmental aspects associate with the manufacturing process.

Infrastructure / Laboratories

Exide R&D Centre is also well equipped with a Tool-Room, CAD facilities, material testing and laboratories having the modern equipment for testing of the raw materials and components used for manufacture of batteries. These include optical emission Spectrometer, Particle Size Analyzer, Porosemeter, Image Analyzer Workstation, Profile Projector, Universal Tensile testing machine, etc. etc.

Functional Areas:

All the above specific areas are well administered by a strong group of human assets. The qualified R&D personnel are Ph.D.'s in Engineering / Applied Science, Post-Graduate / Graduate in Engineering / Science, MBA's and Diploma in Engineering with broad spectrum of experience and they work in the following functional areas:

Battery Design & Development
Process Development
Tool Design & Development
Alloy Development
Development of Plastic Components
Hard Rubber / Soft Rubber Components Development
Analytical Services
Battery Testing & Quality Assurance
Environmental Health Monitoring

Established On : 27-01-1976

Manned By

	Doctorates (PhD)	7
	M.E. / M.Tech	2
	M.Sc	4
	MBA	1
	B.E / B. Tech	16
	B.Sc	9
	Diploma Engineers	9
	Technicians	4

Patents:

Patents	Place	Year
Process for fabricating a grid structure for Cadmium Sulphide / Cuprous Sulphide cell.	India	1978
Improved Dry Charged process for Drying Formed Negative.	India	1978
Process for manufacturing micro-porous polymeric material.	India	1979
Micro-porous polymeric material for Miners’ Cap Lamp batteries and Process for preparation thereof.	India	1981
Automotive Battery Grid.	India	1981
Method of manufacturing lead based alloy.	India	1983
Method of making lead acid storage battery grid.	India	1986
Method of producing low antimony content tubular grid for positive electrodes of lead acid storage batteries.	India	1988
Design patent on 75D31R/95D31 RMF Battery (Jointly with Shinkobe).	India	1998
Design Patent on leak resistant Automotive Battery.	India	2001

In addition to several innovative patents granted in India, quite a few International Patents have already been published with details as under:

In addition to several innovative patents granted in India, quite a few International Patents have already been published with details as under:

Details	Published No.	Published Date	Place	Range of Products Covered
Automotive Battery Grid	---	1982	UK	---
Design Patent jointly with Shin-Kobe	1053740	10 November1999	Japan	75D31R MF95D31RMF
Design Patent	Design Regn. No. 1163467	20 January 2003	Japan	Leak Resistant Design 38B20L/R MF
Patent for leak resistant automotive batteries	US2003/0017381 A1	23 January 2003	USA	Eternity Range (ET40, ET40L) ATB Range(MF70Z, MF50Z, DIN55MF) DIN-MF Range(DIN66MF, DIN74MF) CV Range (MHD600, MHD800)
	P2003-45398A	14 February 2003	Japan
	EP1 280 214 A2	29 January 2003	Europe
Patent for leak retardant automotive batteries	US2003/0013006 A1	16 January 2003	USA	ATB Range(MFS40, MF40SV, DIN44MF, 55B24LMF) MF Range for Premium Cars (55D23LMF, 70D23LMF, 75D23LMF)
	P2003-31191A	31 January 2003	Japan
	EP1 278 254 A1	22 January 2003	Europe

Product Testing Facilities:

Product Testing Department acts as the nodal point for product validation through intra R&D linkage with

	Automotive Design Department for Automotive, Motorcycle & EV batteries
	Industrial Design Department for VRLA, Plante (Flooded), Tubular (Flooded), Submarine, Solar, Minars' Cap Lamp, etc.
	Process Development Department for change or improvement in manufacturing processes
	MRR for ISO and QS Quality Standards

Product Testing Department also interacts with all the manufacturing units i.e. Shamnagar, Chinchwad, Haldia, Hosur, Taloja, Ahmednagar & Guindy for testing and quality assurance of their products from time to time and as per QS Standards.In order to achieve Business Generation through Type Approval Tests of newly developed products, Product Testing Department keeps liaison with Industrial & Automotive Marketing Department and carry out Type Approval Tests which is usually witnessed by the customer / ultimate user at R&D Test House.

R&D Test House is equipped with state-of-the art test facilities which are mainly;

	Microprocessor based computer controlled charge - discharge test system
	Environmental test machines e.g. Vibration, Controlled Temperature & Humidity Chambers, etc.
	High Current Discharge Circuits for Automotive & Industrial
	Some special testing machines e.g. High Voltage Tester, Spark Tester, Short Circuit Tester, etc.

Technology for Tropical Countries

In tropical countries like India, automotive battery life is adversely affected by the following conditions:

	High ambient temperature
	High Vehicle Vibration due to rough roads
	Outdated charging system particularly on old vehicles
	Sluggish vehicle movement in congested city drives
	Frequent start - stop
	Weak infrastructure for maintenance
	Inferior quality of water for topping up.

Exide R&D Centre, therefore, has a special focus on developing the desired automotive battery characteristics for India / Tropical conditions which include the following:

	High temperature endurance
	Recovery from deep discharge
	Resistance to vibration & bumps
	High reserve capacity
	Good cranking ability at low as well as normal temperature
	Heavy load endurance
	Resistance to overcharge
	Low water loss
	Low self discharge
	Spill proof / Leak resistant
	State-of-charge indication
	Spark resistant

Major Developmental Work:

Some of the major development work done at the R&D Centre and viewed at a glance is as follows:

	Automotive & Tractor batteries as per Indian Standards to suit tropical conditions.
	Japanese range of Automotive and Motorcycle Batteries.
	DIN range of Automotive batteries suited to vehicles of European origin
	Development of Submarine Batteries.
	Development of special type of poly-ethylene separators for varying applications.
	Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries for Telecommunication & Railway applications.
	Motive Power Batteries for Fork-lift Trucks & Golf Carts.
	High energy density battery for Electric Vehicles.
	Plante batteries for Power stations.
	Furthermore, long-life, maintenance-free batteries for cars have also been developed which are presently being marketed under the brand name Exide Eternity.
	Also a new heavy duty, MHD Range of batteries have been developed and introduced for the entire commercial range of vehicles. Batteries were also developed for CNG/LPG powered three-wheelers and golf carts.
	A range of batteries for Industrial application including new batteries for Telecom, Solar, Traction and small VRLA for UPS system was also developed.

Major Research Projects:

	Development of lead based alloy for battery grids.
	Development of a variety of maintenance free batteries for Automotive and Motorcycle applications.
	Development of re-combination type maintenance free batteries (VRLA).
	Development of ultra-low maintenance batteries / cells for Solar applications.
	Development of special batteries for electric vehicle applications.