Context: Recently, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Sun Mobility announced the launch of a battery swapping facility for electric vehicles at IOC petrol pumps, offering to replace discharged batteries with fully charged ones within minutes.
Key Points

• IOC will begin with a pilot project of battery swapping called Quick Interchange Station (QIS) at one of its outlets in Chandigarh and gradually scale it up to 20 stations.
• Battery swapping technology offers the best alternative to no or slow charging options and can help EV drivers make optimum use of their operational hours.
• Indian Oil would consider various aspects of the battery-swapping technology for scaling up its presence in the EV infrastructure business.
• The battery swapping model is initially targeted at commercial vehicles such as electric autos, rickshaws and electric two-wheelers and EVs that are either factory fitted or retrofitted.

Significance

• Battery swapping facilities and technologies could go a long way in reducing range-related concerns in EVs.
• Range anxiety is one of the major stumbling blocks towards the mass adoption of EVs around the world.
• It refers to the number of kilometres a vehicle can travel before requiring a charge.

Benefits of Battery Swapping technology
User benefits:

• It is quick (≤ 3 mins) and makes the experience as convenient as refuelling at a petrol pump.
• It gives the option of selling the car separate from battery thereby reducing the cost by almost 30-50% since the battery is the most expensive part in it.
• Battery Swapping Operators are more in control of batteries and will ensure maximum battery usage and proper disposal.

DISCOM benefits:

• This will increase revenue for DISCOMs by providing additional demand from reliable commercial end-users.
• It can be flexible in terms of charging (can be done during non-peak hours), hence balancing the peak load of the grid.

Energy operator benefits:

• This will ensure better utilization of the land as swapping requires a fraction of land needed compared to the charging station.
• This will be an attractive option for urban areas and reduce the financial burden for the energy operators and will provide new business opportunities.