Automakers, energy companies, and startups have begun fast-tracking partnerships in the emerging battery-swap market in order to hasten the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and alleviate customers’ range anxiety. According to experts, such partnerships will enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to reduce upfront acquisition costs by at least 40% to 50%, resulting in increased adoption and sales.
Bounce, a Bengaluru-based startup, announced a partnership with Greaves Retail this week, making Greaves the first retailer to join the Bounce Infinity battery-swap network.
“This enables more Indians to have access to affordable mobility with Battery as a Service (BaaS),” said Vivekananda Hallekere, Bounce cofounder and CEO. The company has raised more than $200 million and has a network of more than 200 swapping stations. Bounce says it has completed more than 1 million swaps, having launched its electric scooter, the Infinity E1, in December 2021, offered with the BaaS feature. For those opting for the latter, without the battery, the scooter is priced at Rs 37,000. It costs Rs 60,000 with the battery.
Hero Electric and Sun Mobility, a leading provider of energy infrastructure, have announced a partnership that aims to produce 10,000 electric battery swappable two-wheelers by the end of the year.
“It makes a lot of sense for the B2B customers as the swapping stations can be placed in the working zones for the riders to allow them to run their bikes without waiting for the recharging of the batteries,” said Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, “With disruptive business models such as battery swapping, leasing etc., consumers need not own the asset–battery, which is ~50% of the total vehicle cost–bringing down the upfront vehicle cost for e2w and e3w (electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers) much below the ICE (internal combustion engine) counterparts.”
In the next three to four months, the government think tank is expected to release a battery swapping policy that could help the EV industry reach critical mass.
Other partnerships include BSES discoms and Ola Electric, which will initially set up charging stations in Delhi. The Delhi government signed an agreement with Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) earlier this year to install battery swapping stations at bus depots for electric two, three, and four-wheelers. Honda and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have also announced a partnership to establish battery-swap stations at retail locations across the country. Honda will begin offering battery swapping services for electric three-wheelers in Bengaluru by the end of June, before expanding to other cities. Hero MotoCorp is collaborating with Gogoro of Taiwan to establish battery swap stations.