Students at IIT Palakkad in Kerala train on drivetrain, battery and charging systems in a comprehensive EV Skill Development Lab completed in January 2026.
Vehicle-level training uses an IoT-enabled 4-wheeler transmission and electrical test bench, a 4-wheeler buggy simulator, an e-scooty cut model and a motorised hydraulic service ramp. Battery work is supported by battery DIY and pack testing systems and a lithium-ion battery characteristics trainer. A PMSM drivetrain test bench with MIDC and regenerative cycle, an EV charging station trainer, a programmable BMS-CAN protocol unit and cut-section component models complete the setup.
The range of equipment lets the institute teach the full EV chain in one room, from cell behaviour on the lithium-ion characteristics trainer to vehicle-level response on the buggy simulator and service practice on the hydraulic ramp.
Students run the PMSM drivetrain bench through MIDC drive cycles with regeneration, test cell and pack behaviour on the battery systems, work with BMS data over the CAN protocol unit and practise charging station operation. The setup supports battery diagnostics, fault analysis and component-level EV engineering, relevant to roles such as EV powertrain engineer, battery engineer and BMS engineer.
Because the BMS-CAN unit is programmable, students can write their own logic for how a battery management system handles cell imbalance or temperature limits, making the lab useful for research as well as coursework.
