Battery Good — a market chief in facilitating battery swapping for 2 and three-wheeler electrical autos (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 every 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 Good 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 thus far, they declare.
Based in 2019, the target of building Battery Good 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 price of a typical EV), lack of ample charging infrastructure, and the time taken to cost autos.
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 autos comes a requirement for batteries which can be lighter to hold, and due to this fact swap. Additionally, drivers of those don’t have to attend for a couple of hours to cost their autos and may as an alternative 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 many others.
Chatting with The Higher India, Pulkit Khurana, co-founder, discusses his enterprise, which recorded a income of Rs 63.5 crore in FY23, and their journey to this point.
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 Good, 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 seen that over 2.5 million electrical rickshaws in India had been powered by lead-acid batteries, serving almost 70 million folks for first and last-mile commutes. We recognised that top upfront prices had been a major barrier to adopting electrical autos 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 downside for drivers. Furthermore, drivers typically 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 aim was to improve the present 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 autos is an thrilling discipline, we selected to give attention to addressing key challenges akin to vary nervousness, charging downtime, and excessive prices. By partnering with over ten main OEMs (authentic gear 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 the very best battery expertise,” he says.
How do Battery Good’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 Good app. Our aim at Battery Good 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 Good community can shortly change their depleted battery for a totally charged one in beneath two minutes, and conveniently pay for every battery swap straight by the app.”
“Utilizing a battery-as-a-service mannequin, we’re making EV possession extra accessible and inexpensive. Our partner-led method permits us to leverage current infrastructure by partnering with small companies and nook retailers to quickly broaden our community and assist enhance their incomes. This has enabled us to broaden 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 Good claims to serve over 200 car fashions with a single sort of battery.
“The concept was to make sure that new customers have a easy transition from their inner combustion engine (ICE) autos to EVs. Battery swapping permits them to imitate the refuelling expertise, by changing the depleted battery with a totally charged battery in beneath two minutes. This ensures that the adoption of electrical mobility is easy and environment friendly, resulting in better financial savings in time, protecting longer distances, and growing incomes,” notes Pulkit.
A single swap would price customers between Rs 100 and Rs 150, and it provides a variety of over 60 km, claims Siddharth. EV customers also can go for varied subscription plans that swimsuit their wants. “The autos have sensible meters, which point out to the customers when to swap, and the remaining — from finding the closest swap station to fee — might be achieved on the Battery Good app,” he provides.
Elaborating on the batteries they deploy, Pulkit says, “The lithium-ion batteries we use are sensible and interoperable, making them suitable with electrical three and two-wheelers. These batteries are produced by completely different battery producers however are equivalent 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 document to make sure high quality and reliability.”
However how a lot does it price to arrange one battery swapping station?
“As talked about, we’ve got a partner-led mannequin, the place we leverage the present infrastructure and collaborate with native companies to arrange swap stations at a speedy tempo, with out the necessity for commissioning new actual property and may now open three to 4 stations daily,” claims Pulkit.
“It normally takes six weeks for a station to go stay. Our companions solely must pay a licensing charge, whereas the remaining, together with all investments in chargers and batteries, is completed by Battery Good. By this mannequin, the companions are sometimes in a position to break even on their upfront charge inside one 12 months and get three years to function beneath the usual settlement. At present, by our accomplice community of 1,200 swap stations, we do one lakh swaps a day,” he provides.
Guaranteeing compatibility with completely different EV fashions
As a battery-swapping enterprise catering to 2 and three-wheeler EVs, how does a enterprise like Battery Good guarantee such compatibility?
“As we provide batteries by a Battery-as-a-Service mannequin, we allow customers to beat widespread limitations to EV adoption. These batteries we use are interoperable and serve over 200 car fashions with a single sort of battery. So, whereas they could 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 lead to decrease weight of the electrical two-wheeler and yield higher power effectivity and better vary on the out there cost. An electrical two-wheeler is designed to run with one battery, whereas autos, akin to e-rickshaws and e-autos, might be fitted with as much as two such batteries, relying on their power 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 growing secure 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 Good has been maintaining with demand. They at the moment have a protracted waitlist of customers and companions getting onto the Battery Good community.
“All through our journey spanning the final 5 years, we’ve got been dedicated to secure EV adoption. Station companions chargeable for dealing with batteries should endure 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 vital to coach clients 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 pointers are adopted, selling compatibility and secure utilization,” says Pulkit.
To that finish, Battery Good claims to have put in place complete protocols that prioritise the protection 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 be sure that all batteries on our community have an IoT gadget that facilitates real-time monitoring of essential parameters, akin to voltage, temperature, and present. We additionally provide 24×7 on-call assist to our drivers and companions. As well as, we be sure 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 predicted to achieve $61.57 million by 2030–progress at a CAGR of 25.20% from 2022 to 2030.
“In India’s final monetary 12 months, Indians purchased over 28 million autos, 12.5% greater than the earlier 12 months. 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 price. Moreover, battery charging requires excessive upfront expenditure, longer downtimes, parking and charging amenities (extra space), which might 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, shifting in direction of the Authorities’s goal of 30% car fleet electrification by 2030. On our roads, we will see {that a} vital 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; Photographs courtesy Battery Good)
