Battery Sensible — a market chief in facilitating battery swapping for 2 and three-wheeler electrical automobiles (EVs) in India — reached a big 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.
For the reason that 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 creating Battery Sensible was to make “EV adoption easy, economical and accessible by a singular partner-led mannequin”, says Siddharth.
What battery swapping expertise does for the electrical mobility sector in India is handle 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 ample 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 can be 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 can be lighter to hold, and subsequently swap. Additionally, drivers of those don’t have to attend for a couple of hours to cost their automobiles and might as a substitute swap their outdated batteries for charged ones in a couple of minutes. These options are particularly helpful for fleet operators, last-mile supply individuals, and so forth.
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 up to now.
Plugging gaps available in the market
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 often gathered details about the e-mobility sector. They learnt that there have been main gaps in it.
“After we began, we seen 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 big barrier to adopting electrical automobiles in a cost-conscious market like India,” remembers Pulkit, in a dialog with The Higher India.
“Lead acid batteries require substitute each six months, making it a recurring capital expenditure drawback for drivers. Furthermore, drivers typically spend 10 to 12 hours each night time charging their batteries and one other 3 to 4 hours to prime it up through the day. Our objective was to improve the prevailing answer with higher expertise. Battery swapping emerged as the answer, because it eliminates the necessity for finish customers to personal the battery, lowering 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 deal with addressing key challenges similar to vary anxiousness, charging downtime, and excessive prices. By partnering with over ten main OEMs (authentic tools producers) engaged on battery growth and manufacturing, we will keep forward of the curve with altering expertise. We all the time have the choice to judge and select from the most effective 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 making certain 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 shortly alternate their depleted battery for a completely charged one in beneath two minutes, and conveniently pay for every battery swap immediately by the app.”
“Utilizing a battery-as-a-service mannequin, we’re making EV possession extra accessible and reasonably priced. Our partner-led strategy allows 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 proscribed,” he provides.
As their batteries are interoperable, Battery Sensible claims to serve over 200 car fashions with a single kind of battery.
“The concept was to make sure that new customers have a easy transition from their inside 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 beneath two minutes. This ensures that the adoption of electrical mobility is straightforward and environment friendly, resulting in larger financial savings in time, masking longer distances, and rising incomes,” notes Pulkit.
A single swap would value customers between Rs 100 and Rs 150, and it presents a spread of over 60 km, claims Siddharth. EV customers may also go for varied subscription plans that swimsuit their wants. “The automobiles have sensible meters, which point out to the customers when to swap, and the remainder — from finding the closest swap station to cost — might be achieved on the Battery Sensible app,” he provides.
Elaborating on the batteries they deploy, Pulkit says, “The lithium-ion batteries we use are sensible and interoperable, making them appropriate with electrical three and two-wheelers. These batteries are produced by completely different battery producers however are an identical in specs and dimensions. Which means 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 based mostly on their current monitor file 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 speedy tempo, with out the necessity for commissioning new actual property and might now open three to 4 stations daily,” claims Pulkit.
“It often takes six weeks for a station to go dwell. Our companions solely need to pay a licensing charge, whereas the remainder, together with all investments in chargers and batteries, is finished by Battery Sensible. By this mannequin, the companions are usually capable of break even on their upfront charge inside one yr and get three years to function beneath the usual settlement. At present, by our companion 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 a Battery-as-a-Service mannequin, we allow customers to beat frequent boundaries 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 shall 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 end in decrease weight of the electrical two-wheeler and yield higher vitality effectivity and larger vary on the out there cost. An electrical two-wheeler is designed to run with one battery, whereas automobiles, similar to e-rickshaws and e-autos, might 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 companion 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 secure Battery Administration Software program (BMS) expertise, which is crucial for successfully managing swappable batteries.”
Addressing different key challenges
One of many greatest 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 secure EV adoption. Station companions liable for dealing with batteries should endure complete coaching applications. They should learn to safe the car’s battery accurately, join it to the charging dock, and reply in emergencies. It’s critical to coach clients and companions to protect the battery’s bodily integrity, as even minor damages can considerably affect its efficiency. Adhering to OEM-approved chargers ensures correct battery charging pointers are adopted, selling compatibility and secure utilization,” says Pulkit.
To that finish, Battery Sensible claims to have put in place complete protocols that prioritise the protection of each drivers and station operators. They’ve achieved this through the use of their BMS, which permits them to trace in real-time the important parameters of the batteries.
“We make sure that all batteries on our community have an IoT machine that facilitates real-time monitoring of important parameters, similar to voltage, temperature, and present. We additionally provide 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 keeping with 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 predicted to achieve $61.57 million by 2030–progress 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 inside combustion engine (ICE) car over an electrical car and select battery swapping over conventional charging strategies largely comes right down to value. Moreover, battery charging requires excessive upfront expenditure, longer downtimes, parking and charging services (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)
