The Union Budget 2022 speech delivered by the Honourable Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharam burst out positive news for the Ev ecosystem on 2nd February. Minister announced that the Central government will formulate a new special policy of Battery Swapping to promote the adoption of electric vehicles.
According to this concept, the battery swapping stations will be installed that will provide aid to replace the fully consumed battery with a fully charged one, that takes only a few minutes, thus helping in saving time from tiring hours of charging.
The government noticed the fact that the year 2021 saw the sale of 3,29,190 electric vehicles with an upgrowth of 168%. And, the reports of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) display that India has 974,313 registered electric vehicles in which overall 1008 public Ev stations are only there so far. This lack of charging infrastructure and high cost are pinning down the sale of electric vehicles. By this newly framed protocol, more Ev charging stations will be installed at a large scale to lessen the headache about battery connectivity issues for the users, thus demanding a seamless cruise without polluting the environment.
Even though the implementation might take time, the results will be astounding that the expensive components in the electric vehicles will come down to operational cost, thus eventually dropping the price of vehicles to make them affordable for all the strata of the society. Reliance Industries and Britain’s BP Plc have already tied up together in this innovative venture alike the Hero MotoCorp and Taiwan’s Gogoro.
Government Initiatives on Battery Swapping
This initiative set up by the Central government mainly focuses to achieve the decarbonization goal and promoting the wide use of public transport in urban areas. This scheme will be integrated with clean technologies, political practices, and zero fossil–fuel policy through which the Indian cities will be holding areas with no–go zones for internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE). This whole planning upon electric vehicles space in India also possesses an objective of imposing uniform standard for EV batteries that will be backed by all-electric vehicle brands.
The Electric vehicle manufacturers are very much pleased with this decision that they consider themselves to be taking part in the development of the country and the protection of the environment. Sohinder Gill, the Director-General of Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said, “We welcome the measures announced by the Finance Minister, today. The budget for 2022–23 gives a huge impetus to the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Introducing the battery swapping policy and recognizing battery and energy as a service will help to develop charging 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.” Also, he added,
“It will create new avenues for companies to venture into the business of battery swapping. Additionally, creating special clean zones will further accelerate the adoption of EVs and spread awareness amongst the citizens. The move will benefit the whole segment, i.e. E2W, E3W, E-cars, and buses.”
