Battery-swapping a viable option for EVs

Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Chairman, SUN Mobility. Credit: Special Arrangement

In an interaction with DH, Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Chairman, SUN Mobility speaks about how multiple stakeholders are coming together to create an ecosystem for Electric
Vehicles (EV).

Karnataka has an EV Policy since 2017, but implementation has been weak. Can private partnership change this?

The key requirement to accelerate e-mobility is active collaboration between public and private players for ready availability and accessibility of charging / battery swapping infrastructure. Public-Private partnerships are necessary for accelerating e-mobility. For this, companies like BMTC, BMRCL and BESCOM need to work with infrastructure providers to create an infrastructure network.

Examples of successful partnerships include: Private players bringing in the technology and the government providing support in terms of real estate and infrastructure set up; Collaboration between auto unions and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) for further enabling adoption of 3-wheelers; Partnership between companies like BMTC with fleet operators like Ola, Uber, Bounce, etc for promoting seamless last mile connectivity using electrics, and lastly, the government mandating delivery fleets to go electric, and incentivising partnerships to make it happen.

Are EVs ready for battery-swapping as a viable alternative to address range anxiety?

Yes. Battery-swapping is a very viable option as it addresses the key issues associated with EV adoption- high upfront costs, range anxiety and long refuelling time—all of which are absolutely essential for the shared mobility segment to make business sense.

Today, there are around 20 OEMs already working in this space—in Bengaluru itself, companies are using swappable battery technology for their fleets of thousands of two-wheelers. SUN Mobility is also working with several OEM partners (including Piaggio) across vehicle form factors, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and loaders.

How best can OEMs partner with mobility platforms to ensure that the EV ecosystem is transformative in the short and long terms?

Mobility platforms, both shared and otherwise, need a very high uptime, range flexibility, and infrastructure availability for them to continue their business operations. To enable this to happen, we believe it is critical for OEMs to partner with charging and battery swapping infrastructure providers and mobility platforms to create a full solution.

(As told to Rasheed Kappan)