Battery swapping policy big booster for EV mobility, startups, says industry
Mumbai: The Union Budget for 2022-23 aims at strengthening the whole ecosystem of the EV industry, which will spur the demand for green vehicles, the EV industry said on Tuesday.
It also said that the introduction of battery swapping policy and interoperability standards announced in the Budget will go a long way in building the use cases and will be a big booster for the startups in the EV space.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday announced that the government will bring a battery swapping policy to boost use of EVS in the country in view of space constraints for setting up charging stations and interoperability standards will be formulated. “Introducing the battery swapping policy and recognizing battery or energy as a service will help develop EV infrastructure and increase the use of EVs in public transportation. It would motivate businesses engaged in delivery and car aggregation businesses to incorporate EVs into their fleet,” said Sohinder Gill, Director General, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.
It will create new avenues for companies to venture into the business of battery swapping, he said, adding, additionally, creating special clean zones will further accelerate the adoption of EVs and spread awareness amongst the citizens.
“The Union Budget 2022 did show its intent on promoting cleaner mobility. The introduction of battery swapping policy and interoperability standards will go a long way in building the use cases,” said Maxwell Lewis, Director CEO at Magenta.
The Finance Minister saying that the private sector will be encouraged to develop sustainable and innovative business models for battery and energy as a service is a great boost to co-develop the battery swapping and EV charging ecosystem, according to him.
What was missed was an explicit statement of the extension of the FAME scheme and how it can support the expansion of the charging network in India to help facilitate the switch from petrol and diesel-based vehicles to EVs, he added.
Samrath Kochar, CEO and Founder of Trontek, India’s largest Li-ion battery manufacturer, said the battery swapping policy with interoperability will be boost adoption of EVs as it will help allay the range anxiety and bring the EVs at par with ICE vehicles in terms of time taken for replenishment of fuel. (PTI)