NITI Aayog, known as the think-tank of public policy, is planning to launch a ‘battery swapping policy’. Which will provide a special facility to electric vehicle buyers, under which vehicle owners will not need to buy the battery of their electric vehicle, they will be able to lease it. NITI Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant said, “I am confident that in the near future, electric vehicles will be cheaper than ICE engine vehicles.” The proposed policy will cover business models such as Battery as a Service (BaaS), Leasing etc.
Kant said owners of electric vehicles will not need to buy batteries in the near future. In general, the cost of the battery alone accounts for about 50% of the total cost of an electric vehicle. This policy reduces the cost of an electric vehicle significantly compared to ICE equivalent vehicles. The policy will enable electric vehicle owners to swap batteries at swap stations within minutes and charge them at home.
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Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and President, Sun Mobility, Electric Mobility (a company engaged in the development and operation of energy infrastructure) said, “This policy will help address the hassle of upfront cost and range, especially for people who need to travel to destinations or charging. The fear of running out of charge before reaching the point will prove to be very helpful for them as they will get the facility to charge the battery at home.
Kant of the commission said that, “In the initial phase the focus will be on catering to light electric vehicles where it is easy to plug and play battery from vehicles to battery swapping stations. This emerging technology of battery swapping will act as an alternative to reduce vehicle-to-battery cost for almost all segments.”
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The commission held the first pre-draft stakeholder discussions for the proposed policy earlier this month, with participants from vehicle OEMs, battery OEMs, financiers, think tanks, multimodal agencies and independent experts and consultants. Sulajja Firodia Motwani, CEO of electric two and three-wheeler maker Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions said after FAME-II and state incentives to reduce EV prices and for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and component manufacturers. The focus is on performance-linked incentive (PLI) schemes.