(T.E.T)
Public policy think tank Niti Aayog plans to roll out a ‘battery swapping policy’ – which will give electric vehicle buyers an option not to own its battery thereby bringing down the upfront cost and fast-tracking EV adoption – in the next 3-4 months. “I am confident that electric vehicles will be cheaper than ICE engine vehicles in the near future,” Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant said.
The proposed policy will introduce disruptive business models such as battery as a service (BaaS), leasing, etc. so that electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler customers need not own the battery, which is about 50% of the total vehicle cost, bringing down the upfront vehicle cost much below the ICE counterparts. This will increase the confidence among battery manufacturers, OEMs, charge-point operators and, most importantly, consumers with a clear policy roadmap, they said. Battery swapping will also minimise recharging time to about two minutes, which is less than the time it takes to top up the fuel tank of ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles, experts said. With the battery being charged under the supervision of the manufacturer or service provider, the life of the battery will also increase, said an official of a Mumbai-based finance company.
