SUN Mobility seeks policy support for battery swapping as it begins commercial rollout of modular EV platform

SUN Mobility has called for battery swapping technology to receive the same policy support as other green mobility solutions, saying wider inclusion under government schemes could help accelerate the adoption of electric commercial vehicles as the company begins the commercial rollout of its modular battery-swapping platform.

SUN Mobility has called for battery swapping technology to receive the same policy support as other green mobility solutions, saying wider inclusion under government schemes could help accelerate the adoption of electric commercial vehicles as the company begins the commercial rollout of its modular battery-swapping platform. Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of Prawaas 5.0, Ashok Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of SUN Mobility's Heavy Electric Vehicles (HEV) business, said the company has completed battery certification and integration with the Tata Starbus EV platform and has started engaging with fleet operators.

"We have already completed the certification of our batteries. We have also completed the integration with Tata Starbus. Through this event, we will start our engagement with the fleet operators. As soon as the order is booked, the deployment will start in three months," Agarwal said. He said battery swapping and fast charging would serve different commercial vehicle applications, with battery swapping particularly suited for high-utilisation operations such as intercity buses.

"If we swap the multi-batteries in less than three minutes, we can practically use the bus for 24 hours. In the worst-case scenario, the uptime can be 20 to 30 per cent better," he said. Agarwal also urged the government to provide a level playing field for battery swapping under existing and proposed clean mobility initiatives.

"We want the government to give all green technologies a level playing field... We want the government to include swapping in all schemes," he said, referring to initiatives such as PM E-Drive and proposed commercial vehicle financing schemes. In a statement, SUN Mobility Co-Founder and Chairman Chetan Maini said the company believes modular battery swapping can support the next phase of commercial vehicle electrification.

"We believe the modular multi-battery swapping solution has the potential to unlock large-scale electrification across the commercial vehicle ecosystem by delivering a cost-effective and operationally efficient energy solution for diverse applications," Maini said. According to the company, the platform supports commercial vehicles ranging from 3 tonnes to 55 tonnes and operates on a Battery-as-a-Service model, allowing fleet operators to buy vehicles without batteries and pay separately for energy usage. It said the common platform is designed to improve fleet utilisation, lower upfront ownership costs and support wider adoption of electric commercial vehicles. (ANI)