EV Battery Swapping is a process which allows electric vehicles to exchange a discharged battery pack for a charged one. It is a time-saving alternative to EV charging.
Battery swapping is popularly used for smaller vehicles, such as electric two and three-wheelers, which have smaller batteries that are easier to swap manually.
Battery swapping offers 3 major advantages over EV charging: saves time, saves space & saves money.
Saves Time: Swapping a discharged battery for a fully-charged one takes just 2-4 minutes, whereas charging a battery can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 10 hours!
Saves Space: An EV battery swapping station takes up less space than an EV charging station.
Saves Money: Setting-up an Electric Vehicle Battery Swapping is much cheaper than an EV charging station. Also, ‘battery-as-a-service’ allows electric two and three-wheelers to be sold without the battery, thereby reducing the cost of the vehicle by nearly 40%. Standardization of batteries will further reduce the cost of electric two and three-wheelers.
The EV Battery Swapping Maestro: Gogoro
At present, Taiwan-based Gogoro operates the largest EV battery swapping network. The company has dominated its domestic market of Taiwan. It operates thousands of battery-swapping stations and has seen more than 350 million battery swaps. Each day Taiwan sees more than 250,000 battery swaps, 90% of which are via Gogoro’s network. Taiwan will soon have more Gogoro battery swapping stations than fuel stations.
The company’s early market entry and eventual success has helped it become a de facto battery-swapping standard.
Over the last few years, Gogoro has set its sights on international expansion, including India.
Battery Swapping is a boon for electric two & three-wheeler fleet companies who want to keep their EVs running without being worried about charging time. Uniform battery features, such as battery size, cell size & connectors, will make swapping easier. Standardization will serve as a major catalyst for achieving economies of scale swiftly.
Top 5 Leading Electric Vehicle Battery Swapping Networks in India:
Sun Mobility
Sun Mobility is a leading battery swapping player in India. The Bangalore-based company offers interoperable battery swapping solutions for EVs. The company’s battery swap tech uses smart batteries that are smaller, modular & interoperable across two & three-wheelers of multiple OEMs and includes tamper-proof GPS and diagnostic telematics. The company operates a network of battery swapping stations across major cities that offer ‘two-minute swaps’.
At the heart of the overall process is a cloud-based IoT platform that generates and analyzes vehicle and battery related data in real-time and enables intelligent decision-making for fleet and kiosk network management.
Lithion Power
Delhi-based Lithion Power’s portfolio includes battery swapping tech and battery management system (BMS). The company operates an open shared battery swapping network where you can exchange a discharged battery for a charged one in 2-3 minutes.
Scan the barcode and download the EVJoints app to find 6,000 EV charging stations across various networks.
Click & download the EVJoints app to find 6,000 charging stations.
Lithion’s omni-charging technology allows EVs to either charge at home, at public chargers or at the company’s battery swapping kiosks which are primarily located across Delhi-NCR and Haryana.
VoltUp
VoltUp is a one-stop instant battery swapping platform for all two and three-wheeler EVs. With the aim of fortifying last-mile delivery fleets while also growing its individual customer base, the startup aims to be a market leader in the battery swapping space.
The Mumbai-based company believes that ‘battery-as-a-service (BAAS)’ will pave the road to mass electrification in India.
Yuma Energy
Bengaluru-based Yuma Energy is a relatively new player in India’s battery swapping arena but has already made an impact. It is a joint venture between Yulu & Magna. Yuma has started the process of setting-up a network of battery swapping stations for electric two-wheelers across the country. Magna is a Canadian company which supplies automotive parts world-over.
Yuma stations feature integrated AI-powered charging units. The company states that its services are not only available to Yulu’s electric two-wheeler fleet but also to other OEMs and fleet operators.
Currently, Yuma has established a network of more than 85 stations across cities like Bangalore, Mumbai & Delhi. The company has plans to set up 500 stations across the country by the end of 2023.
Yuma Stations are situated in densely located, high-demand areas and are equipped with integrated AI-powered charging units.
Esmito
Chennai-based Esmito provides battery swapping solutions for logistics & last-mile mobility companies.
Esmito is known for its IoT enabled, cloud-based software integrated battery swapping technology. The company’s smart EV battery swapping stations come with a virtual battery-locking technology. The cloud-based platform tracks battery health that ensures a longer battery lifecycle. These smart battery swapping stations serve both electric two and three-wheelers.
Conclusion:
Government incentives, coordination between multiple players and interoperability standards can lead to widespread usage of battery swapping and subsequently help India achieve its long-term climate goals. Awareness about the benefits of battery swapping and battery-as-a-service will attract more consumers, leading to large-scale switch to EVs.
