Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech promised to introduce a policy around battery swapping technology, in a move aimed at speeding up the adoption of electric vehicles in India.
“Considering the constraint of space in urban areas for setting up charging stations at scale, a battery swapping policy will be brought out and interoperability standards will be formulated. The private sector will be encouraged to develop sustainable and innovative business models for ‘Battery or Energy as a Service’. This will improve efficiency in the EV ecosystem,” she said.
India will also step up initiatives in urban areas to achieve its broader decarbonisation goals by promoting the use of public transport in urban areas and complement this with measures in the form of special mobility zones with zero fossil-fuel policy and clean tech and governance solutions, she said.
At a time when the country is seeing an increasing number of players in the quick commerce and online grocery industries, demand for fleet has increased multifold in recent times.
The Delhi government recently mandated 100% EV adoption for ride aggregators and delivery services. This has fast-tracked EV adoption in the commercial segment.
Battery swapping is touted by industry players as a panacea to range anxiety problems in the segment.
“Government and policymakers have recognised battery swapping as the most effective solution to accelerate EV adoption in India by addressing range anxiety and hesitancy in adoption. We believe this move can enable affordable and clean mobility at scale,” said Vivekananda Hallekere, CEO & Co-Founder, Bounce.
But one of the biggest drawbacks in EV charging infrastructures like swappable batteries and fast charging has been the lack of standardisation. With humongous investments flowing in India’s nascent EV industry, players are innovating and experimenting with different technologies.
While recognising the “good announcement” in the Budget to promote EVs, Founder of Plug Mobility Rajiv K Vij has pointed out that the budget has missed a major challenge in EV adoption.
“Availability of financing for fleets and a credit guarantee by the government are desperately required by fleet owners who have suffered hugely during the pandemic. The commercial car industry is ready to transition to EV but without (access) to easy finance at low cost, this will be delayed,” Vij said.
Check out the latest DH videos on Union Budget here: