After Honourable Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman pointed out the need for a swapping policy in her budget speech for the financial year 2022-23. While India is looking forward to building a strong ecosystem of electric vehicles, a sustainable approach like reusing or swapping batteries can help in strengthening the process of building a strong electric vehicle ecosystem in the country.
The battery constitutes approximately 70% cost which if swapped, can be brought down. The model of interoperability or battery swapping can become of the best solutions to navigate through the problem of high cost and spread a network of energy operation “supply chain” to fasten and strengthen the goal of transition.
Battery Swapping Policy Draft by Niti Aayog
NITI Aayog has drafted the Battery Swapping Policy, it is informed that Any person or entity is free to install Battery Swapping Station at any location, provided the specified technical, safety, and performance standards are followed. Certified battery agnostic swapping stations must be used to establish swapping services and may contain one or more types of certified battery packs.
All BSSs must operate in at least one vehicle segment (E-2W, E-3W, LCV, etc.), and each BSS must serve at least two EV OEMs. Battery swapping The BCS can vary greatly in capacity from 1-2 batteries to hundreds of batteries, depending on the network provider’s requirements. India can follow an easy roadmap to formulate the “business model of Battery Swapping”.
Standardizing The Battery Technology
The common concept behind battery architecture includes electric power, cavity, pack size, output performance per unit, and electric power control unit will build the base of battery swapping. These elements act as the catalyst for attaining economy of scale faster. After the pandemic hit the world with the unexpected or uncertain scarcity of resources including diesel and petrol, the sales of electric vehicles have started to boost in India too.
Recycling Batteries
Source Recycling Batteries can become a major opportunity for EV companies in India. Companies can come up with recycle-friendly designs to build to reuse. Recycling batteries will eliminate the chaos of maintaining an effective and efficient supply chain in the company.
Finance for Battery Swapping
The lack of incentive and financing help are the most stressing hurdles in building the business model of battery swapping. The financial institutions stay reluctant to lend capital to the electric vehicle companies because of the new technology & resale battery value of the event. The Electric Vehicle sector is new to the already established financial institutions which will require track records or data. Therefore, until the Indian government starts implementing the already existing policies, the in-progress network of electric vehicles will take time to build.
Flexibility Of Battery Sizes
With the sales of Electric vehicles picking up, the companies in the same sector will need to adopt the business model of Battery Swapping to cut the cost of manufacturing to bag profits in the recent future. To achieve this objective, one has to start focusing on the flexibility of battery sizes. The most obvious element of car manufacturers is the difference in the battery sizes. While a company is trying to attain the model of battery swapping, the range and prices need to be maintained and studied. While every other car has a different size of the battery, it is difficult to focus on maintaining the flexibility of the battery sizes.
Battery Swapping Solution Companies in India
The following is a list of companies that provide Electric Vehicle Battery Swapping solutions in India or Battery Swapping Technology in India.
| Company Name | Company Website | Headquartered |
|---|---|---|
| Sun Mobility | www.sunmobility.co.in | Bengaluru |
| Ola Electric | www.olaelectric.com | Bengaluru |
| Lithium Power | www.lithionpower.com | Delhi |
| Voltup | www.voltup.in | Mumbai |
| Race Energy | www.racenergy.in | Hyderabad |
| Esmito | www.esmito.com | Chennai |
| Numocity | www.numocity.com | Bengaluru |
| BatterySmart | www.batterysmart.in | Delhi |
| ChargeUp | www.echargeup.com | New Delhi |
| Okaya Power Group | www.okayapower.com | New Delhi |
| Bounce Infinity | www.bounceinfinity.com | Haryana |
Summary
The adoption of a Battery swapping business model can be a perfect alternative to the battery charging stations. With companies like Mahindra, Tata, and Hyundai strengthening their base in India, it will take a couple of years for these companies to establish a sufficient number of charging stations in India. Therefore, battery swapping can become one concept where India can build its base.