SUN Mobility: A Game Changer in EV Battery Infrastructure

SUN Mobility; is a universal energy infrastructure provider aiming to power 1 million EVs. The company’s service uses lithium-ion battery technology which straight forward provides a long charging time. SUN Mobility has launched its battery-swapping network to build India’s EV Battery Infrastructure

SUN Mobility is a joint venture between Maini Group and SUN Group. This partnership brings in synergies of the Maini Group which is a diversified engineering powerhouse providing solutions for intra-campus electric mobility, material handling, aerospace, and automotive precision products, and the SUN Group which has global investments in the range of sectors such as energy (oil & gas), mining, renewable energy, and new energy storage applications.

In 2015 when Chetan Maini decided to take a break from his Electric Vehicle company Reva, he wanted to bring about a difference. With a break, a clear mind, and a lot of discussions. He discovered if the world has hopped onto the train to get all electric why is it not happening here?

In 2016, he met Uday Khemka, Vice-Chairman of a London-based company “SUN Group”. He shared the same vision as Chetan Maini which led to “SUN Mobility”.

SUN Mobility’s co-founder Chetan Maini had his Eureka moment when he was power drilling and his batteries ran out, he normally changed it with new ones and that is when he realized this could be done for vehicles too. Maini thinks this idea could be revolutionizing as the growth of EVs in India has remained sluggish only because of the lack of charging infrastructure. An entrepreneur and EV enthusiast, who invented Reva; India’s first electric car in 1999.  He has over 25 years of experience in leading teams that developed electric, hybrid, and solar vehicles and has been granted over 35 global patents. Chetan played an instrumental role in advising the central and state governments on respective EV policies.

SUN Mobility and Battery Swapping Technology

There are several challenges urban mobility in India has to face, therefore SUN Mobility has come up with unique methods and customized adaptable solutions. Battery swapping is a revolutionary solution to depleted batteries, one can easily swap batteries at any swap point without having to wait. Model for “Smart Mobility” that can be used with buses, 2 and 3-wheelers, and other types of vehicles.

This “Made in India” approach addresses four major barriers to widespread EV adoption, including

•  High Costs
•  Range Anxiety
•  Long Charging Time
•  Inadequate/Lack of Widespread Charging Infrastructure

There is also an Application of SUN Mobility that helps its users find the nearest swap point, monitor the battery’s state of charge, and manage payments.

The Bus Solution

The Quick Interchange Station

• There are specially interoperable swap point stations built for larger vehicles like buses, these swap points are designed to swap batteries in less than three minutes. These swap points have a robotic arm to hurriedly swap the batteries as soon as possible. This enables 150+ trips on a daily basis.
• These superfast interchange stations provide advanced thermal management with highly efficient liquid conditioning which efficiently regulates the temperature.
• It provides an autonomous and robotic operation for the station therefore there is limited remote intervention.

The smart battery

• The SUN Mobility has an Advanced Lithium-Ion battery, it’s lightweight and long-lasting.
• It is adapted to monitor all the battery vitals and optimize performance for long life and high levels of safety at the same time, it’s called 3-on-board computer optimization.
• It has an apogee in safety measures and is protected against theft and cannot be easily tampered with. It is equipped with a GPS tracking system.
• It is a rugged and sturdy model which is built from scratch, especially for Indian conditions that it has protection against high temperatures and humidity.

Piaggio in 2019 decided to lean onto a joint venture with SUN Mobility for its swappable battery Technology. This partnership would make SUN Mobility provide Piaggio with its smart swappable batteries and quick interchange stations. This helped Piaggio manufacture EVs which would contain intelligent swappable batteries with advanced lithium-ion technology. The batteries are assured to embellish the overall efficiency of the vehicle with better pick-up and enhanced mileage.

SUN Mobility has also joined hands with a Japanese Electric Vehicle manufacturer; to lead the automobile industry to a sustainable society. The two businesses intend to combine SUN Mobility’s swappable battery-based energy solution with Terra Motors’ 3W passenger vehicles and 2W platforms.

Read More: Battery Swapping Stations Cost and Companies in India

First Battery Swapping Station in Bengaluru

SUN Mobility has sought a power utility, Bescom’s help to identify a plot for the electric station. This facility will provide swappable batteries where users can swap their all drained batteries for fully charged ones. As we all know charging infrastructure that the cities lack; SUN Mobility plans to provide the towns with battery-swapping stations to help people who want to switch to eco-friendly.

SUN Mobility expand in several cities across Nation

The co-founder of SUN Mobility has said that due to partnerships like Piaggio, the company has spread across more than 10 cities with an assured number of more than 50 battery-swapping stations.

The recent update on the Battery Swapping stations is that Indian Oil Corporation Limited has recently announced its collaboration with SUN Mobility to equip gas stations around the nation with lithium-ion battery switching stations for electric automobiles. One of IOC’s fuel stations in Chandigarh has the first battery switching station there.

In 2021, SUN Mobility decided to roll out 100 battery swapping points which were called swap points. The event was virtually attended by the Chief Minister of Karnataka; BS Yediyurappa. At the moment there are a total of 4 battery swap points at IOCL outlets in the areas of Indiranagar, Jayanagar, Koramangala, and HSR Layout.

Omega Seiki pulls out a joint venture with SUN Mobility

The Uday Narang founder of Omega Seiki said that;

“The alliance will allow us to add new value to our product portfolio with class-leading swapping technology. The ability to quickly get a new set of charged batteries will play a pivotal role in the adoption of EVs in a market like India. More so for the e-commerce and logistics segments without having to worry about the energy infrastructure. The alliance with Sun Mobility is a key step forward towards providing our customers with an option of fixed, rapid charging and swappable battery with our entire range of commercial electric vehicles”

The battery-swapping feature provided by SUN Mobility is surely their USP, and it is truly a game-changing introduction to the EV industry.

Chetan Maini, the co-founder and Vice-chairman of SUN Mobility stated;

“Our commitment is to increase adoption of EVs in the last mile transportation segment by making refueling faster, affordable, more accessible, and convenient via battery swapping. We are equally excited to partner with Omega Seiki and help equip their vehicles with our global interoperable smart mobility solution and alter the way people and goods move today.”

SUN Mobility collaborates with Amazon India in Maharashtra

SUN Mobility with an alliance with Amazon India has launched a battery swapping network, which will first be initiated in the metropolitan cities in Maharasthra like Mumbai and Pune. SUN Mobility aims to establish 2000 battery-swapping stations in these two cities by 2025.

This setup aims to complete 3,00,000 swaps in a day, in addition to this infrastructure will provide employment to 3000 individuals and be an important facility to more than 2,00,000 EV users.

With reference to the initiative, the Maharashtra Minister of Environment & Climate Change Aaditya Thakeray added that;

“We look forward to working with various players in the space and extending all necessary support to make Maharashtra a leading example in EV adoption.”

This initiative by SUN Mobility and Amazon India is expected to bring down CO2 emissions in Maharashtra by 3,00,000 tonnes per annum. This collaboration will also lead to the establishment of SUN Mobility battery swapping points at Amazon sites.

More Partnerships- 

• SUN Mobility partners with Microsoft to use their Azure-based solutions for deploying its universal energy infrastructure effectively

A Game-changer in the EV Battery Infrastructure

The goal of SUN Mobility is to speed the widespread adoption of electric mobility by building a global network of interoperable energy infrastructure. The rapid battery swapping model’s strategy of removing the batteries from the car addresses the three main problems with electric vehicles: high initial costs, range anxiety, and lengthy charging times. This new technology will surely build a strong charging infrastructure in India and encourage a lot of people to adapt to EVs.

Read More: EV Battery Swapping