The Viability Of Battery Swapping In The Current Indian EV Scenario

The Indian electric vehicle (EV) industry is evincing interest in battery swapping because of the speed factor. With a maximum refuelling time of 5 minutes, this technology can make charging of EVs a quick affair. However, the adoption and implementation of battery swapping has not picked up speed for a number of reasons.

- Shruti Mishra

To charge electric vehicles, two methods are being considered in India—battery charging and battery swapping. Typically, battery charging is a long process that may take hours. Yet, in spite of the tediously long wait associated with this charging, few are willing to adopt battery swapping. This is largely because of policy and awareness constraints.

In mid-2017, the government think tank, NITI Aayog, proposed a battery swapping policy to promote electric vehicle adoption in India. In its report, ‘India leaps ahead’, the government think tank asserted that an expanding charging network and the growth of battery swapping stations, in addition to enhanced fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, will lead to the rapid adoption of electric vehicles.

However, a few months later, Nitin Gadkari, the minister for road transport, highways and shipping, junked the entire idea, saying that the swapping policy was not appropriate for the situation in the country. Electronics Bazaar spoke to the leaders of two major EV battery swapping service providers in the country—Lithion Power and SUN Mobility—on how viable battery swapping is in the current scenario, what essentials are required to make this service more robust, and what kind of support is expected from the government to make battery swapping a favourable option for EV users.

Infrastructure requirements

For a battery swapping service to be both efficient and viable, proper infrastructure is a prime requirement. Explaining this, Piyush Gupta, CEO, Lithion Power, says, “A battery swap station needs at least 200 square metres of space, so that a vehicle can drive in and out. The swapping station must be equipped with uninterrupted power supply, batteries for swapping, battery chargers, battery racks and automation kits for the swapping process.”