What the site does
Pithampur, near Indore, is one of central India's largest automotive manufacturing areas, with a strong presence of commercial vehicle and component makers. The grading plant opened there in 2022 to serve Madhya Pradesh and surrounding states, which previously had to send retired packs long distances to western or southern sites before learning whether they had any reuse value. It opened as regional EV sales began to climb.
Its 11,000 TPA of capacity covers commercial vehicle modules, three-wheeler packs and passenger-car packs from Indore and Bhopal. Its central position also makes it a practical intermediate grading point between western and northern India, and suppliers in the Pithampur cluster use it for structured testing of returned modules and sub-assemblies. Modules below reuse threshold are consolidated and dispatched for black mass production at an integrated campus elsewhere in the network.
What arrives at the gate
Feedstock at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh reflects its catchment and plant type. Every consignment is weighed, photographed and logged against the originating manifest before it enters the process area.
- Commercial vehicle modules from the Pithampur cluster
- Three-wheeler packs from central India
- Passenger-car packs from Indore and Bhopal
- Supplier returns and sub-assemblies
The process, step by step
The 3 operating lines — module soh bench, eis diagnostics laboratory, ai optical cell grading — run the sequence below.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Intake & safety triage | Packs are logged, thermally imaged and screened for swelling, coolant ingress or venting before entering the bench area. |
| Controlled de-energising | Residual energy is discharged to a safe state of charge with regenerative load banks and recorded per serial number. |
| Module-level capacity test | Full charge-discharge cycling at C/3 establishes usable capacity, internal resistance and cell-to-cell balance. |
| EIS fingerprinting | 1 mHz–10 kHz impedance sweeps separate SEI growth, lithium plating and contact resistance degradation modes. |
| AI optical inspection | Machine-vision inspection of busbars, welds and cell cans flags mechanical defects that block second-life reuse. |
| Grade assignment | Grade A (≥85% SOH), B (75–85%), C (65–75%) and D routes are assigned, with D-grade material released to refining. |
What sets the site apart
Central India coverage. Cuts transport distance for Madhya Pradesh customers who previously shipped packs out of state.
Commercial module benches. Fixtures sized for the larger modules used in trucks and small commercial vehicles.
Supplier returns handling. Structured grading helps component makers understand failure patterns in returned units.
Where material goes next
Material that Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh does not finish on site moves to the nearest specialist facility in the network, keeping transport distances and dwell times down.
| Facility | Role | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Nagpur — Butibori Second-Life Works | Second-Life BESS Works | 385 km |
| Visakhapatnam — Atchutapuram Refinery | Hydrometallurgical Refinery | 938 km |
Field note