Battery swapping – The new ‘gig’ in town, which is here to stay

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Part2: Understanding the Business of Mobility as a Service or ’MaaS’ Model

In the last edition, Jeenit Mehta, Co-founder of RedE EV Mobility Pvt Ltd., discussed how companies are providing Battery as a Service or BaaS through the leasing of swappable batteries to EV owners. Many of these swapping companies source vehicles without batteries and lease vehicles with their swappable battery solutions in order to promote their batteries. This concept is called ‘Mobility as a Service’ (MaaS).

Mobility as a service ‘MaaS’ model is being currently fuelled by two factors:

• The gig economy for the last mile requires quick energy refills. Battery charging for 4 to 5 hours in the middle of the day causes a loss of working hours.

• Risk aversion in ownership of EVs – The resale value of the EVs is low. Plus, maintaining EVs, especially batteries, still requires a lot of expertise.

The requirements of the gig economy

• According to the cumulative driver onboarding data of major ecommerce and delivery companies, in NCR alone, there are 18 lakh registered two-wheeler riders contributing to the so-called gig economy of companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola etc.

• There are two types of last-mile delivery/pickup operations for the delivery companies – On-demand delivery and hub & spoke distribution.

• The hub and spoke model allows for efficient planning and consolidation of goods, making it suitable to use 3Ws. Additionally, fixed battery charging is a viable option when charging infrastructure is available at the hubs, allowing for better scheduling of charging times and manpower allocation.

• The peculiar challenge with on-demand delivery is that the rider and the vehicle have to be ready all the time during duty hours. Battery swapping majorly solves this problem if proper infrastructure is made available.

• On-demand delivery is majorly executed through 2Ws unless there are volume constraints. (Although there are companies like Porter which do on-demand delivery on 3Ws as well. Few pilots on 3wheelers in the passenger segment have already taken place, where private operators have tied up with companies like Sun Mobility which own and lease Piaggio e-Ape 3Ws with their battery swapping solution.)

• The total cost of leasing e-2Ws with a swappable battery (including energy charges) comes to around INR 2 per km, whereas the cost of maintenance and petrol charges for ICE two-wheelers is around INR 3 per km.

• A rider typically saves INR 1 per km even if he already owns the vehicle. The daily running of a rider is around 120 km; this typically brings savings of approximately INR 3,000 per month. For riders who don’t own a petrol bike currently, the savings are much higher as no capital cost is required. Many keep their existing bikes at home for personal use and take the EV for commercial usage.

Risk aversion in ownership of EVs

• EVs, especially with Lithium batteries, are still a relatively new technology, and relatively few have the confidence to put capital into owning an EV. There are currently over a hundred manufacturers of electric two-wheelers that assemble their vehicles using parts mostly imported from China. As a result, companies and individual owners are sceptical about the availability of parts and the durability of these EVs.

• For fleet operators handling large fleets, battery management and maintenance can become a hassle as the riders to whom they give the EVs need to take proper care.

• Battery management requires regular maintenance, which includes regular cell balancing, controlling excessive charging and discharging, and cooling of batteries after charging.

Additional benefits of MaaS

• No dedicated parking and charging station infrastructure is required. The vehicles can be handed over to the drivers 24/7.

• MaaS providers have their vehicles and batteries insured, with batteries loaded with GPS features, immobilizers etc. The MaaS providers also have battery and recovery teams in place.

Conclusion

Electric Mobility as a service ‘MaaS’ using swappable Batteries is not just a short-term case for swappable battery providers to promote their batteries. It is, in fact, a suitable solution for fleet operators to solve problems such as low vehicle resale value, service and parts availability, battery
maintenance, capital expenditure in the purchase of vehicles and battery replacement, and two-way dependency on the OEM as well as on the battery provider.

Also Read: The silent battery swapping revolution happening in India through retrofitment