Government-owned fossil fuel firm IndianOil has partnered with transport infrastructure power company Sun Mobility to set up electric vehicle battery-swapping stations at select fuel stations in cities across India.
A state-of-the-art battery swapping station has been inaugurated at Kapoor Service Station, one of Indian Oil’s leading retail outlets in Chandigarh, in northern India.
The project will contribute to the Government of India’s objective of reducing vehicular emissions to meet its Paris Agreement commitment of reducing carbon emissions by 33-35% of 2005 level over 15 years.
The project will use Quick Interchange Stations that are compatible with multiple vehicle platforms, including two- and three-wheelers (e-rickshaws and e-autos).
Motorists simply drive to a station where their vehicle’s battery is removed and information on usage is collected. A fully charged battery is then inserted into the vehicle.
A Smart Network (an IoT-based cloud platform) helps keep a constant check on the battery vitals, tracks batteries in real-time, enables digital authentication, station operations and ensures service delivery optimisation.
Sun Mobility is looking for similar projects in its home state of Benagluru as well as a ‘Pay-per-Swap’ model whereby the owner buys the vehicle and leases the battery.
