Cab aggregator and shared mobility giant Ola’s policy research and social innovation unit — Ola Mobility Institute (OMI) — in a recent note has strongly pitched for promoting battery swapping technology to realize the country’s electric vehicle goals.
The note, which has been prepared after consultation with stakeholders across the spectrum, says that the critical reason for people not buying electric vehicles currently was the lack of charging infrastructure. Battery swapping, the report said, should be actively treated as a promising solution to accelerate the adoption of EVs in India, especially for 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler segments.
“Total cost of ownership parity for electric four-wheelers is elusive compared to small vehicles due to large battery packs and high cell cost, further requiring significant commitments to land-dependent charging infrastructure. This suggests consideration of other segments for rapid electrification. Any attempt at electrification in India must include 2W and 3W segments at least in proportion to the market share of these vehicle formats in target geographies,” it said.
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It further added that the technology has many benefits to offer users, the power sector, energy operators and to the country as a whole.
Among the benefit to consumers, the report said by separating the vehicle from the battery (which constitutes 30-50 per cent of the total cost of an EV), the upfront cost of the EV comes down to levels competitive to or below ICE counterparts, enabling higher demand. It added that battery swapping drastically reduces wait times through its under-3 minute interchange of batteries versus 1.5-2 hours minimum for a charging solution, improving the utilisation characteristics of vehicles.
Taking views from stakeholders, OMI also proposed that the definition of EVs be expanded to include vehicles without batteries pre-installed and to encourage automotive use of batteries not sold with vehicles.