Why govt is pushing battery swapping technology for EVs

The Union Budget 2022 revealed the govt’s push for clean and green energy. EVs are at the forefront of this effort to reduce overall carbon emissions. In order to provide the needed push, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a new Battery Swapping Policy.

What is Battery Swapping?

Battery Swapping is one of the two ways to power electric vehicles on the go. Some EVs need to be plugged in order to get charged. However, the EVs that use battery swapping don’t need that.

The user of the EV just needs to head to a battery swapping station and exchange the depleted battery with another, completely charged unit. Another option is to just take out the battery and charge it at home.

Why Battery Swapping?

During the budget speech, the finance minister mentioned that this tech is being promoted in order to deal with space constraints in the urban landscape. Normal plug-in EVs require a dedicated charging point at an accessible spot. For this, the owner needs to have a permanent parking spot at home or access to public fast chargers.

The introduction of battery swapping tech provides certain flexibility to the owner. The waiting period to get to a full charge comes down drastically. However, its not all rainbows and butterflies for battery swapping.

Battery Charging (Pros)
-As simple as plugging in an appliance
-No need to manually remove battery and replace them (most batteries are very heavy)
-What you buy is yours to keep
-You can set a charger at home
-Higher degree of battery optimization with the scooter

Battery Swapping (Pros)
-Not much range anxiety if there’s enough battery swapping stations
-No waiting period
-Can be carried home to recharge
-Could cost much less
-Eradicates the problem of depreciating battery capacity
-Ability to adopt a newer battery technology once it is broadly available

Battery Charging (Cons)
-Long waiting period
-Impact on battery health over the span of ownership
-Needs ample space to park and charge simultaneously
-Range anxiety due to lack of time to recharge
-Needs more planning before leaving the house

Battery Swapping (Cons)
-Lack of standardization
-Possibility of getting a more used up unit which could impact driving range
-Short life of battery as most users would opt for a new battery
-More batteries are in circulation to run the same number of EVs
-The weight of the battery may not make the task of swapping any easier

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