India to introduce policy to encourage battery swapping

In her budget speech the 1st of February India's finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that Indian government will introduce a policy that encourage the use of battery swapping. The purpose is to make more efficient use of both real estate and batteries while giving more users the ability to buy and use electric vehicles.

The finance minister stated:

"Considering the constraint of space in urban areas for setting up charging stations at scale, a battery swapping policy will be brought out and inter-operability standards will be formulated. The private sector will be encouraged to develop sustainable and innovative business models for ‘Battery or Energy as a Service’. This will improve efficiency in the EV ecosystem."

India has already several ongoing initiatives using battery swapping, primarily for 2- and 3-wheelers. Sun Mobility develops swapping solutions for both personal mobility and buses. The startup eChargeup develops solutions for scooters while Battery Smart and Lithionpower operate swapping networks for e-rickshaws and scooters. Scooter companies such as Hero and Bounce Infinity are also offering swapping and last week Honda announced it will build up swapping as well.

The speech can be read here.

Picture shows Battery Smart's swapping system.