Industry divided over impact of battery swapping on innovation

The swapping, in its current form, will require a great deal of battery standardisation, which, many in the industry feel may not leave any room for innovation and product differentiation and curb investments in the sector

With the government likely to announce the policy on battery swapping in electric two- and three-wheelers, almost six months after the draft was released, the industry is divided over its impact on innovation in the segment.

While battery swapping – wherein discharged vehicle batteries can be instantly exchanged for charged ones, is expected to tackle hurdles such as high vehicle cost, long charging time and range anxiety, some experts feel this can only be leveraged up to a certain limit and is not a complete solution to push adoption of electric vehicles.

The swapping, in its current form, will require a great deal of battery standardisation, which, many in the industry feel may not leave any room for innovation and product differentiation and curb investments in the sector.

“When the policy came there was a huge objection…the policy began discussions on standardisation in batteries that a customer should be able to go to any swapping station, as in case of ATMs,” Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric, said.

“This means huge standardisation of swapping stations in terms of size, technology and backend as well as huge standardisation in terms of size and chemistry of the battery.”

He added that while the objective of the policy is good, the concerns raised by the industry – such as who takes the blame for a sub-optimal battery brought in at a swapping station and what happens if that battery catches fire – are genuine.

Siddharth Kabra, Co-Founder & CEO at battery swapping solution provider VoltUp said that by decoupling battery from the vehicle, battery swapping reduced the initial investments by EV owners by up to 40%. The solution, he added, is a boon for last-mile delivery agents as it empowers them to drive longer while lowering down their fuel cost drastically. “We need to keep in mind that charging batteries takes a long time. Most of us are still used to going to a fuelling station where refill is instant…Battery swapping takes around a minute and thus eliminates a larger problem of parking space which one of the prerequisites in case of charging.”