Battery Sensible — a market chief in facilitating battery swapping for 2 and three-wheeler electrical automobiles (EVs) in India — reached a major landmark final month. On 7 August, the Delhi-based enterprise based by IIT Kanpur graduates Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka introduced that it had surpassed one lakh day by day swaps on its community of over 55,000 drivers.
Because the launch of its first swap station in Janakpuri, New Delhi, in June 2020, Battery Sensible has quickly expanded its community. With 1,200 stations now unfold throughout greater than 35 cities in India, the Delhi-based electrical mobility enterprise has emerged as a number one participant within the battery swapping sector, surpassing 45 million cumulative swaps to this point, they declare.
Based in 2019, the target of building Battery Sensible was to make “EV adoption easy, economical and accessible by means of a singular partner-led mannequin”, says Siddharth.
What battery swapping expertise does for the electrical mobility sector in India is tackle anxieties over the price of EVs (since batteries make up as a lot as 40% of the manufacturing value of a typical EV), lack of satisfactory charging infrastructure, and the time taken to cost automobiles.
Within the context of India’s e-mobility sector dominated by two and three-wheelers which are primarily deployed for public transit, freight transport, and last-mile supply/connectivity, battery-swapping expertise makes extra sense. With smaller automobiles comes a requirement for batteries which are lighter to hold, and due to this fact swap. Additionally, drivers of those don’t have to attend for just a few hours to cost their automobiles and might as a substitute swap their previous batteries for charged ones in a couple of minutes. These options are particularly helpful for fleet operators, last-mile supply individuals, and so on.
Talking to The Higher India, Pulkit Khurana, co-founder, discusses his enterprise, which recorded a income of Rs 63.5 crore in FY23, and their journey so far.
Plugging gaps out there
Spending greater than a decade within the logistics and shared mobility sectors, and fascinating in coverage consulting earlier than establishing Battery Sensible, Pulkit and Siddharth commonly gathered details about the e-mobility sector. They learnt that there have been main gaps in it.
“After we began, we observed that over 2.5 million electrical rickshaws in India had been powered by lead-acid batteries, serving practically 70 million individuals for first and last-mile commutes. We recognised that prime upfront prices had been a major barrier to adopting electrical automobiles in a cost-conscious market like India,” recollects Pulkit, in a dialog with The Higher India.
“Lead acid batteries require alternative each six months, making it a recurring capital expenditure drawback for drivers. Furthermore, drivers usually spend 10 to 12 hours each night time charging their batteries and one other 3 to 4 hours to high it up throughout the day. Our objective was to improve the prevailing resolution with higher expertise. Battery swapping emerged as the answer, because it eliminates the necessity for finish customers to personal the battery, decreasing upfront prices by as a lot as 40%,” he provides.
In contrast to a number of ventures on the time that determined to get into the enterprise of producing EVs and chargers, Pulkit and Siddharth ventured into battery-swapping expertise.
“Though manufacturing chargers and automobiles is an thrilling subject, we selected to give attention to addressing key challenges comparable to vary nervousness, charging downtime, and excessive prices. By partnering with over ten main OEMs (unique tools producers) engaged on battery improvement and manufacturing, we will keep forward of the curve with altering expertise. We all the time have the choice to guage and select from one of the best battery expertise,” he says.
How do Battery Sensible’s swapping stations function?
As Pulkit explains, “We use interoperable batteries for electrical two and three-wheelers, permitting customers to simply find the closest swapping station by way of the Battery Sensible app. Our objective at Battery Sensible is to construct a dense community of swap stations by guaranteeing EV customers are inside a one-kilometre radius of a station with zero wait time. On the station, EV customers on the Battery Sensible community can rapidly change their depleted battery for a completely charged one in underneath two minutes, and conveniently pay for every battery swap instantly by means of the app.”
“Utilizing a battery-as-a-service mannequin, we’re making EV possession extra accessible and reasonably priced. Our partner-led strategy permits us to leverage present infrastructure by partnering with small companies and nook outlets to quickly increase our community and assist increase their incomes. This has enabled us to increase our community to Tier 1, 2, and three areas in India, the place charging infrastructure is restricted,” he provides.
As their batteries are interoperable, Battery Sensible claims to serve over 200 car fashions with a single kind of battery.
“The thought was to make sure that new customers have a easy transition from their inner combustion engine (ICE) automobiles to EVs. Battery swapping permits them to imitate the refuelling expertise, by changing the depleted battery with a completely charged battery in underneath two minutes. This ensures that the adoption of electrical mobility is straightforward and environment friendly, resulting in higher financial savings in time, protecting longer distances, and rising incomes,” notes Pulkit.
A single swap would value customers between Rs 100 and Rs 150, and it gives a variety of over 60 km, claims Siddharth. EV customers also can go for varied subscription plans that go well with their wants. “The automobiles have good meters, which point out to the customers when to swap, and the remainder — from finding the closest swap station to cost — could be achieved on the Battery Sensible app,” he provides.
Elaborating on the batteries they deploy, Pulkit says, “The lithium-ion batteries we use are good and interoperable, making them appropriate with electrical three and two-wheelers. These batteries are produced by completely different battery producers however are similar in specs and dimensions. Which means that from a buyer’s perspective, the identical mannequin of batteries is being swapped. We supply our batteries from over 10 Lithium-ion battery OEMs in India primarily based on their current observe document to make sure high quality and reliability.”
However how a lot does it value to arrange one battery swapping station?
“As talked about, we’ve got a partner-led mannequin, the place we leverage the prevailing infrastructure and collaborate with native companies to arrange swap stations at a fast tempo, with out the necessity for commissioning new actual property and might now open three to 4 stations every single day,” claims Pulkit.
“It often takes six weeks for a station to go stay. Our companions solely must pay a licensing price, whereas the remainder, together with all investments in chargers and batteries, is finished by Battery Sensible. Via this mannequin, the companions are sometimes capable of break even on their upfront price inside one yr and get three years to function underneath the usual settlement. Presently, by means of our accomplice community of 1,200 swap stations, we do one lakh swaps a day,” he provides.
Making certain compatibility with completely different EV fashions
As a battery-swapping enterprise catering to 2 and three-wheeler EVs, how does a enterprise like Battery Sensible guarantee such compatibility?
“As we provide batteries by means of a Battery-as-a-Service mannequin, we allow customers to beat widespread obstacles to EV adoption. These batteries we use are interoperable and serve over 200 car fashions with a single kind of battery. So, whereas they might be produced by completely different OEMs the specs and dimensions will likely be uniform,” explains Pulkit.
“The swappable batteries are round 2 to 2.5 kWh in capability, and weigh about 12 to fifteen kg. The smaller batteries lead to decrease weight of the electrical two-wheeler and yield higher vitality effectivity and higher vary on the accessible cost. An electrical two-wheeler is designed to run with one battery, whereas automobiles, comparable to e-rickshaws and e-autos, could be fitted with as much as two such batteries, relying on their vitality consumption and vary necessities,” he provides.
He additionally goes on to state, “Our accomplice OEMs present guarantee, efficiency and security on their merchandise, and whereas we conduct high quality testing on them earlier than rolling it out into the market. We make investments considerably in creating protected Battery Administration Software program (BMS) expertise, which is crucial for successfully managing swappable batteries.”
Addressing different key challenges
One of many largest challenges for Battery Sensible has been maintaining with demand. They at the moment have a protracted waitlist of customers and companions getting onto the Battery Sensible community.
“All through our journey spanning the final 5 years, we’ve got been dedicated to protected EV adoption. Station companions chargeable for dealing with batteries should bear complete coaching applications. They should learn to safe the car’s battery appropriately, join it to the charging dock, and reply in emergencies. It’s critical to coach prospects and companions to protect the battery’s bodily integrity, as even minor damages can considerably impression its efficiency. Adhering to OEM-approved chargers ensures correct battery charging tips are adopted, selling compatibility and protected utilization,” says Pulkit.
To that finish, Battery Sensible claims to have put in place complete protocols that prioritise the security of each drivers and station operators. They’ve achieved this by utilizing their BMS, which permits them to trace in real-time the essential parameters of the batteries.
“We make sure that all batteries on our community have an IoT gadget that facilitates real-time monitoring of essential parameters, comparable to voltage, temperature, and present. We additionally supply 24×7 on-call assist to our drivers and companions. As well as, we guarantee that all station companions and drivers on board our community obtain necessary coaching programmes and refresher programs on correct battery administration, storage, dealing with, and emergency response,” he provides.
Way forward for EV battery swapping
In response to a report by Prescient and Strategic Intelligence, a market analysis enterprise, the Indian EV battery-swapping market stood at an estimated $10.2 million in 2022. This market is anticipated to succeed in $61.57 million by 2030–development at a CAGR of 25.20% from 2022 to 2030.
“In India’s final monetary yr, Indians purchased over 28 million automobiles, 12.5% greater than the earlier yr. Whether or not these shoppers select an inner combustion engine (ICE) car over an electrical car and select battery swapping over conventional charging strategies largely comes all the way down to value. Moreover, battery charging requires excessive upfront expenditure, longer downtimes, parking and charging amenities (extra space), which may dissuade drivers from switching to electrical options, particularly in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities,” explains Pulkit.
“EVs at the moment account for 20% of India’s last-mile supply market, transferring in the direction of the Authorities’s goal of 30% car fleet electrification by 2030. On our roads, we will see {that a} important variety of fleet operators have moved to electrical mobility. That is true for Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. They’re gaining from the zero-charging downtime, a singular benefit of battery swapping which helps drivers save time and keep on the highway longer,” he provides.
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Pictures courtesy Battery Sensible)
