Battery Swapping- The Promising Future of EV

The recent Union Budget 2022 rolled out the blueprint for India's 100th year. And the main focus was economic development. To do that, one of the notable suggestions was to give emphasis on creating infrastructure for the mass adoption of electric vehicles. Our Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced the Battery Swapping Policy. This policy is aimed at making EV's more accessible to the public by making them more affordable.

Any discussion about EV is never complete without discussing EV charging solutions. These vehicles will need charging plug points in all public places so that they can be charged easily and quickly. These charging stations are usually designed to dispatch DC or AC power (Direct Current, Alternating Current). The DC charging infrastructure is approximately 5X times quicker than the AC charging infrastructure. And, that makes the cost difference 100X times.

This disparity clearly indicates that DC charging stations will scale much slower than the AC charging stations. And that further turns our attention to the fact that India needs a more reliable alternate method to charge their electric vehicles.

Now, battery swapping makes a grand entry here. The concept of battery swapping is simple- any user can quickly replace a discharged battery with a new, fully-charged battery within a matter of minutes. It will be far easier than a trip to the nearest petrol bunk. IoT (Internet of Things) will check the battery's charge and offer the right guidance as to which battery to select at the swapping station. Thus you can ensure that the battery is completely charged and not just partially charged. Now that you know what battery swapping is, let us now take a look at the battery swapping policy announced by our Finance Minister!

Understanding the Battery Swapping Policy

During the Budget speech of Nirmala Sitharaman, she mentioned that "considering the constraint space in urban areas for setting up (electric vehicles) charging stations, a battery swapping policy will be brought out and interoperability standards will be formulated."

So, what are the key points we can derive from it?

Introduction of EV Battery Swapping Stations

India lacks the presence of easy to access EV charging stations in public places. We do not have the infrastructure to support it. This makes EV's an unattractive option for people who are looking for convenient solutions. In such a situation, battery swapping stations are a great alternative. It requires less space and can be easily incorporated into our existing infrastructure. EV owners can quickly swap the drained batteries of their EV and swap them with fully charged batteries.

Maintenance of Standards of Interoperability

The Battery Swapping Policy has also made it clear about establishing standards of interoperability. This will further make battery swapping easier for EV owners as any EV battery can be used in any EV brand. It simply means that the battery used in brand A can also be used in brand B and vice versa.

Increased Investment by EV Manufacturers

As a direct after-effect of the policy, there will be an increased investment by both new and existing EV manufacturers. Manufacturers will now focus more on improving the efficiency level of batteries and introducing embedded technologies. The set standards will be equally beneficial for EV owners as well. They will now get to choose between various competitive EV brands.

Battery Swapping to Make EV's More Affordable

If you analyse the costs involved in an electric vehicle, the battery cost is a major contributor. The cost of materials involved in developing the battery and technologies administered to make it efficient makes the overall cost of EV go higher and higher. Now, with the introduction of battery swapping, we can remove the battery part from EV as a separate purchase. This will make the cost of EV drop significantly. Though you will still have to buy a battery for your EV, the reduced upfront cost will make EV's more affordable for one and all. Interested to know more about EV? The experts at Nantech, Chennai, is here to assist you. Get in touch with us today!