Battery Swapping Technology to Transform India’s EV Industry in 2023

Ankit Mittal, Co-Founder & CEO, Sheru

 

India’s EV industry has grown rapidly in the recent past, especially in the 2-wheeler and 3- wheeler segments. Comprising just 2% of all 2-wheeler sales at the beginning of 2022, sales of e-2-wheelers were more than 5% of total sales in September. The 3-wheeler segment has seen even more impressive growth, with electric vehicles comprising more than half of total sales. The Indian government expects 80% of all 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler sales to be electric variants by 2030.

However, there are several challenges when transitioning to EVs. Long charging hours, inadequate charging infrastructure, and high initial investment are deterrents. For the government, it is not possible to allocate space for an individual charger for every vehicle, considering the dense nature of our cities. While electric vehicles offer advantages, solutions are needed for users to make the transition quickly and conveniently.

Battery swapping solves each of these problems. Separating the battery and the vehicle brings the price of an EV equal to that of petrol, diesel, or CNG variants. Recurring subscription payments allow customers to pay for usage rather than a large upfront amount. And battery swapping is an efficient way to cater to multiple EVs at a single location, servicing up to 15x more vehicles.

Apart from these advantages, there are developments on the horizon that are set to further drive the adoption of battery swapping. The Indian government is preparing a battery-swapping policy that would catalyze the development of the sector and drive the EV industry in India forward. It recognizes the cost benefits, ease for customers, and lower infrastructure requirements that battery swapping offers and has laid out frameworks for driving innovation on multiple fronts.

At the moment, each battery swapping operator provides a different battery to users. These batteries vary in size, power, and on battery chemistries, and users cannot shift easily between service providers. Interoperability would allow for some level of standardization of batteries and give users the freedom to change operators. Apart from the convenience offered, it would also set minimum standards and push operators to improve service delivery.

While battery-swapping operators are partnering with small retail stores to set up swapping stations at these stores, the process of getting dedicated power connections is long and time-consuming. This is set to change with a single-window clearance process, bringing down the time taken to set up a battery-swapping station. Battery swapping needs to scale up rapidly to meet the demand, and this would help in resolving one bottleneck.

Finally, there are no financial incentives for swappable batteries as there are for fixed-battery EVs. Though battery swapping has seen rapid growth without incentives, the provision of it would level the playing field between fixed batteries and swappable ones, and further drive the sales of vehicles in the swappable battery segment. This incentive scheme is in the works and its rollout would be a boost to the industry as a whole.

The growth of battery swapping is set to see an uptick in the next year with changes across fiscal, regulatory, and operational fronts, with positive implications for the sector. The rise of battery swapping would result in greater adoption of EVs, lower pollution from fossil fuel vehicles, and a revolution in India’s EV journey.