World Environment Day 2023: The Role of Battery Swapping in Overcoming Real Estate Challenges

As compared to an EV charger, swap stations takes as much space, but can store several batteries and cater to the needs of multiple users.

Image for representation

India's Electric Vehicle (EV) sector has been multiplying in recent years, with the government's push for electrification and increased consumer awareness. However, one major hurdle in India's road to rapid EV adoption is the lack of real estate and parking lots built to accommodate developing infrastructure like charging points. Unlike the United States, where the infrastructure was built to accommodate EVs, residential complexes and parking lots in India lack the capacity to accommodate additional vehicles or support the power generation for EV charging.

The limited space in residential areas forces people to park on public roads, making it difficult to charge their EVs. We all saw this in the recent viral image where an owner of an electric two-wheeler was seen taking his vehicle in an elevator to charge it inside his home, highlighting the challenges of parking and charging in crowded cities like Mumbai. According to a report, 80% of charging takes place at home, but unfortunately, only 3.2% of residential societies in metropolitan cities in India have installed charging infrastructure.

This indicates a need for innovative solutions to tackle the challenge of limited real estate for EV charging infrastructure. Furthermore, retrofitting old buildings with EV charging infrastructure is not possible due to the inadequate electricity grids that cannot support new charge points. One such solution is battery swapping. Setting up swap stations that store ready-to-use batteries requires much less space and infrastructure and can be implemented quickly.  

With a footprint of just ten square feet against a wall, swap stations are sleek and easy to set up, requiring minimal space to store several batteries and cater to the needs of multiple users. Each swapping station can cater to approximately 200 2-wheelers in a 24-hour period. In contrast, a typical charging station spot for a 2-wheeler occupies approximately 20 square feet.

Even if each 2-wheeler can be fully charged in 30 minutes, it would take roughly 100 hours to charge the same 200 2-wheelers using charging stations. Adding to that are the challenges of idle time, peak hours, etc.  By enabling users to swap discharged batteries with pre-charged ones at swap stations easily, battery swapping provides a faster and more convenient option that is particularly useful in areas with limited or expensive real estate. Battery swap stations can be set up in new apartments and residential colonies.

Industry estimates showcase that India will require 400,000 charging stations to cater to the 2 million electric vehicles by 2026. Currently, the number of charging stations in India is 1,800. As the number of EVs increase, there will be a need for more real estate. This will not be scalable in the long run and will result in long waiting times for charging. A good case in point is CNG vehicles, where long queues in CNG pumps are still quite a common sight, despite the industry moving to CNG 15 years ago.

This is why the CNG passenger vehicle segment comprises only a fraction (11%) of the market share. Battery swap stations are easily scalable, particularly in areas where there is a need for more real estate. They can be set up in petrol pumps, public and private parking lots, as well as at kirana stores. Akin to refuelling in a petrol pump, one swap takes less time than refuelling a vehicle, preventing users from waiting. EV users can even carry an additional recharged battery with them on the road. 

While battery swapping is solving for EV adoption in the B2B and commercial EV segments, it also has the potential to be a game-changer for expanding EV adoption for personal use. This innovative solution can help India reach its 30% electric mobility goal by 2030 by addressing the real estate challenges currently hindering EV adoption.

This article is authored by Arun Sreyas, Co-Founder, RACEnergy. All views are personal.