CM B.S. Yediyurappa Opens Bengaluru’s First EV Battery Swapping Station

The Chief Minister of Karnataka has inaugurated the first EV battery-swapping station in the capital, yesterday. 

To enable fast discharge and support the last-mile connectivity by encouraging e-vehicles, the station will facilitate EVs to run for a longer time by swapping the discharged battery in two minutes and travel for another 80 km. 

Inaugurating the charging station, the CM addressed, “The consumers were ready to adopt EVs and now there was a need to ensure that the supporting infrastructure was in place. As the government was encouraging usage of electric vehicles, battery swapping units would reduce charging time, increase mileage, and help to drive for longer hours.”

“EVs would reduce pollution and the government would provide a subsidy of USD 569 for each one of them,” he further said. 

To escalate the EV adoption and its EV battery charging stations, a leading provider of universal energy infrastructure and services, SUN Mobility has announced its plans to install 100 EV battery swapping stations in Bengaluru by the end of 2021. This announcement was made at the inauguration of the firm’s first EV battery-swapping station in the city. 

Director of Sun Mobility, Sandeep Maini said, “We plan to create 100 battery swapping stations and this infrastructure is going to be spread across the city.”

“We realize that good infrastructure is a precursor to enabling a vibrant, clean, and shared mobility ecosystem in a city like Bengaluru,” SUN Mobility co-founder and Vice-Chairman Chetan Maini said. 

He further said, “Our commitment is to increase the adoption of EVs in the shared mobility sector, in Bengaluru, by making refueling faster, cheaper, more accessible, and convenient.”

SUN Mobility currently has a network of 50 battery swapping stations spread across 14 cities through its tie-up with the country’s largest oil and gas marketing company, Indian Oil. It plans to ramp it up further to 150 stations in 20 cities by March 2021.