Electric scooter company Hero Electric has tied up with Sun Mobility, a swappable battery service startup, and thanks to the partnership the former's two-wheelers will be integrated with the latter’s smart-swappable battery technology. This will help Hero Electric take on its arch rival Hero MotoCorp, which has linked up with the global leader in battery swapping technology, Gogoro.
Hero Electric and Sun Mobility will get down to deploying the new battery swappable technology within the next three months. At least around 10,000 of Hero Electric e-scooters will be fitted with Sun Mobility's battery tech by the end of the year, the companies said in a statement.
For the record, Sun Mobility’s swappable battery also powers Piaggio‘s Ape E-City.
Hero Electric and Sun Mobility hope to make the most out of demand for the battery electric vehicles, particularly for two and three wheeler EVs. These vehicle segments greatly benefit from battery swapping infrastructure as charging stations are slow to come by.
Hero Electric, which rolls outs it vehicles from its Ludhiana factory, has also collaborated with a startup called Log9, which is known for advanced battery technology. Now that Sun Mobility has come into the picture, it is not clear what happens to the previous collaboration.
Battery swapping is the way forward
Battery swapping, by the way, is simply replacing a depleted battery with a fully charged one at a battery swapping station, which are similar to 'petrol bunks'.
Battery swapping is now at the core of EV growth drive. The government itself is set to come out with the battery swapping policy that is expected to establish common standards for companies for ease of use.
Battery swapping pushes the running costs of the scooter down substantially, by as much as 40% compared to conventional scooters. Battery swapping, by the way, is simply replacing a depleted battery with a fully charged one at a battery swapping station, which are similar to 'petrol bunks'.
This technology also tackles the challenge of frequently purchasing new battery packs making EV more economically viable. BaaS (battery as a service) maximizes asset utilization. In the Indian EV ecosystem, many tech start-ups are working towards perfecting the swapping technology. In all, it is expected to bring down the cost of the EVs.
When battery as a service (BaaS), leasing, and subscription models get established EV customers do not have to own the battery, which accounts for about half of the total vehicle cost.
Sun Mobility has partnership with IOC
Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric, said, “battery Swapping is emerging as a good catalyst for the exponential growth of the electric two-wheelers in India. It reduces the upfront cost of buying a two-wheeler, eliminates the range anxiety and the apprehensions about the useful life of the batteries. It certainly makes a lot of sense for the B2B customers as the swapping stations can be placed in the working zones for the riders to allow them to run their bikes without waiting for the recharging of the batteries.”
Hero Electric is now expanding its existing R&D facilities to manufacture the next generation of low-speed, city speed and high-speed vehicles for the consumers. The electric two-wheeler manufacturer has sold over 450,000 units.
Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Chairman of Sun Mobility, said, “The confluence of Hero Electric’s futuristic vision on understanding the EV space and the pros of the battery swapping technology, along with the government’s commendable initiatives to come up with tangible policies, will definitely augur well with our common goal to accelerate the demand and adoption of EVs in the country.”
German engineering company Bosch has invested in the Bengaluru-based Sun Mobility for a 26% stake. Sun Mobility battery swapping stations will also be part of the petrol stations from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which is planning to have EV charging stations at 10,000 of its petrol and diesel outlets across India.
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