SUN Mobility, a Bengaluru-based startup has an amazing idea to turn all India’s Buses & Autos into 100% Electric. The company’s revolutionary battery swapping technology is all set to change the era of e-vehicles in the country. With this technology, one can ‘refuel’ in a matter of minutes just like at the regular liquid fuel stations and much quicker compared to the conventional charging setup which takes anywhere from 1-5 hours.
Battery swapping technology
Sighting the growing petrol price, and pollution caused due to the use of liquid fuel, the entire world is now looking to switch to electric vehicles. However, the major obstacle to adopt such e-vehicles is refueling problems. A normal e-vehicles lithium battery takes more than 4 hours to charge a vehicle as compared to normal vehicles which require refueling in less than five minutes.
A Bengaluru-based startup, SUN Mobility has come up with an idea that will solve all the problems. The startup believes that their low-cost battery swapping technology will help users ‘refuel’ in a matter of minutes just like at the regular petrol/diesel stations. The lightweight swappable Lithium-ion batteries are said to be small, have a long life, upgradeable and also have higher utilization potential for shared mobility purposes.
Three-wheeler program
The company has already partnered with small commercial vehicles (three-wheeler) manufacturer Piaggio. The system of quick exchange stations will enable the electric autorickshaw drivers to swap their batteries in under two minutes.
“This partnership with SUN Mobility is a step forward towards providing easy, cost-effective and eco-friendly last-mile transportation. SUN Mobility’s battery swapping solution will help us in fulfilling our vision of creating a sustainable mobility ecosystem without having to worry about the energy infrastructure,” says Diego Graffi, MD and CEO of Piaggio Vehicles.
Light and easy to operate
To explain the idea in simple terms, if an e-auto or a bus runs out of battery, then the driver can easily remove the drained battery from the vehicle and swaps it with a charged battery within minutes.
The only problem of this idea is the availability of charging stations or swapping stations. SUN Mobility is currently working on developing Quick Interchange Stations (QIS) or charging stations.
The smart batteries are going to be around 13 kgs for a 2/3 wheeler battery, and 600kgs for a bus battery. There will be on-board computers, with Advanced Battery Management System and GPS/GSM/Bluetooth connectivity, which helps drivers keep a check on the battery usage.
“With current high costs of batteries and long recharging times, electric mobility is neither financially nor operationally viable. Also, charging infrastructure business (setting up charging stations at public places) for electric vehicles is not financially viable until there is enough demand to ensure high utilization of charging equipment,” said Yuvraj, head of Strategy at SUN Mobility.
