The Centre intends to launch new discussions in order to establish interoperable standards for battery-swapping regulations. The Ministry of Heavy Industries has been requested by NITI Aayog, the Government of India’s public policy think tank, to call a meeting with industry stakeholders as part of this effort. The goal is to bring all parties together around a single set of policies. These consultations are intended to help you accomplish that.
Discussions are planned to centre on technical requirements, safety requirements, and the practicalities of deploying interoperable battery-swapping technology (tech). By streamlining the requirements for battery-swapping technology, this project intends to ensure interoperability between various electric vehicle (EV) models and charging stations.
One of the main issues facing the EV industry is the lack of uniformity in battery formats and charging infrastructure. The drive to standardize battery-swapping technology is considered as a critical step in addressing this issue.
Battery swapping, which enables EV users to swiftly swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones, is a promising approach to assuage worries about EV range anxiety.
Battery swapping is a subset of the larger category of business models known as ‘battery as a service,’ which entails customers buying an electric vehicle (EV) without the battery, greatly reducing upfront costs, and paying a recurring subscription fee (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) to service providers for battery services over the course of the vehicle’s lifetime.
Although lower initial costs from battery swapping may make buying cars more appealing, manufacturers are cautious to use this strategy. A program like that would compromise their distinct comparative advantages and sources of income and put pressure on them to upgrade their current infrastructure.
When including batteries with their products, manufacturers presently use government subsidies for batteries to lower the upfront cost of their automobiles. However, the proposed legislation would give these subsidies to battery suppliers instead, potentially costing original equipment manufacturers their competitive edge.
Industry stakeholders said that because each battery required to be properly built to interact with a vehicle and have distinct dimensions, hardware, and software, it was technically impossible to manufacture such standardized batteries.