By: Sachidanand Upadhyay
FM Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated in Budget 2022 that the government is in plans to roll out a battery swapping policy and interoperability standards for electric vehicles (EVs). With this landmark measure, India has inched several steps closer to giving a big thrust to clean mobility initiatives and achieving its decarbonization goals. This move is also pivotal to inspiring EV players in the country to formulate innovative battery swapping business models, a key step towards ensuring cost and scale benefits in the domestic EV ecosystem.
To put things into perspective, let us analyze some statistics. According to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), as of March 2021, there were only 1,800 charging stations in the country. A report by Grant Thornton Bharat-FICCI in June 2021 states that India will need to set up 4 lakh battery charging stations to cater to an estimated 20 lakh EVs which will ply India’s roads by 2026. This glaring demand-supply mismatch is indicative of the fact that the EV players in the country need to collaboratively devise strategies for building an expansive Pan-India charging network in the country. By encouraging private sector players to adopt the Battery-as-a-Service (BAAS) model, concerns regarding space constraints for the setting up of EV charging stations can be effectively addressed.
With the implementation of the BAAS model or battery swapping, EV owners will be conveniently positioned to swap their discharged battered batteries with fully charged ones. The concept of battery swapping enables drivers to save precious time as compared to charging a battery which could be a lengthy and time-consuming process. For service providers, it resolves the cost and location challenges of setting up big EV charging stations. For the EV owner, leasing batteries instead of buying them helps to offset the impact associated with the upfront purchase cost of an EV as battery costs constitute 30-40% of the overall vehicle cost. Deploying advanced EV battery swapping solutions at cost-effective prices can also contribute to alleviating range anxiety issues. Creating a seamless battery swapping infrastructure can also play a key role in boosting the resale value of electric vehicles.
The lack of standardization in battery packs used for powering EVs can be a key impediment in the implementing interoperability standards on a nationwide basis. Securing the participation of various members of the EV value chain comprising battery manufacturers, vehicle OEMs, charge point operators (CPOs) and mobility service providers (MSPs) to facilitate standardized battery specifications and ensure and battery compatibility with various EV brands and models. As the demand for battery swapping picks up with an uptick in EV use and adoption, the requirement of backup batteries will rise.
EV battery station operators will need to maintain sufficient inventories of backup batteries to match the demand with supply. The battery swapping stations will need to be located at strategic locations which would be easily accessible to consumers. In this case optimal utilization of resources will be key to implementing a sustainable battery swapping business model. On the industry side, seamless exchange of battery swapping technology between different private sector EV players will lay the groundwork for implementing a hassle-free interoperability framework.Â
Implementing battery-swapping regulations and defining interoperability standards will not only help big firms to shift their delivery fleets from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to e-vehicles. It will also lay the roadmap for mainstreaming of EV adoption in the country.
About the author: The author is the Founder of Lord’s Mark Industries Pvt Ltd, a tech-driven manufacturing company.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author. These views and opinions do not represent those of The Indian Express Group or its employees.
