KOCHI: In a move aimed at popularising electric vehicles, public sector Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Monday launched a battery swapping model for 20 e-autorickshaws here.
‘e-Drive’, which is being introduced in e-autos functioning as Kochi Metro’s feeder service, is aimed at allaying the biggest concern of e-vehicle owners -- battery capacity and the number of charging stations.
Prior to this, when the battery charge was down, it took around three to three-and-a-half hours to fully recharge a feeder e-auto. This badly affected the business. This is where battery swapping by BPCL becomes effective, said officials. “Once the battery charge is about to run out, the driver can go to any of the swapping stations in the city. A swapping station can store 200 batteries. After checking the batteries, the driver can select two and replace the existing ones. So no time is lost in charging and the auto is powered by a fully charged battery,” said Midhun Das, regional manager, Kinetic Green, which provides the autos on lease with zero down payment. Batteries are provided by the BPCL.
With the batteries being the most expensive part of an EV, battery swapping is expected to bring down the price of electric vehicles. The swapping stations have begun functioning at Palarivattom, Kadavanthra and Edappally.
The project was simultaneously implemented in Kochi and Lucknow. D Rajkumar, chairman and managing director, BPCL, performed the inauguration through videoconferencing from Chennai. BPCL, Kinetic Green and Ernakulam Autorickshaw Drivers’ Cooperative Society will jointly run the project in the city.
Two batteries of 1.5 kWh are used in the vehicle. The vehicle can travel up to a distance of 50 km with the help of fully charged batteries. All the batteries are charged at the BPCL’s Kalamassery unit and it takes around two hours to fully charge them.
“We are running the e-Drive project on pilot mode. The drivers will be charged a daily sum as lease which covers the cost of service and maintenance of the vehicle and the battery,” said Sudheendran P C, assistant manager (sales) retail, BPCL.
Kinetic Green will be introducing 100 more e-autorickshaws in the city by March. The company is also planning to extend the feeder service to Edappally, Ernakulam South, Vyttila and Thykoodam Metro stations.