Lithion Power to invest $1 billion to create battery swap ecosystem
, ET Bureau|
Feb 16, 2018, 09.17 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Lithion Power, a Delhi-based company that offers battery as a service for electric vehicles, plans to invest around $1billion along with its partners to create an ecosystem for e-vehicle drivers to swap batteries on daily lease or rental.
“This is an emerging marketbased model that we have created, and we are targeting shared mobility, which has high asset utilisation, with our product,” Piyush Gupta, director at Lithion Power, told ET.
He said the company and its partners will cumulatively invest around $1 billion, or about Rs 6,410 crore, over the next 2-3 years.
Lithion Power looks to emerge as a leader in the segment that has not quite been explored in the Indian market.
Currently, the company operates around five swapping stations — where users can swap their close-to-discharge batteries for a fully-charged one — in the national capital region (NCR), and it’s strictly focused on public transportation electric vehicles, lastmile electric three wheelers, erickshaws, and two-wheelers.
“Battery swap for electric cars will take time, as we need to work with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to understand the specifications of their car, and make a battery accordingly,” Gupta said.
Lithion Power expects India to have more than one million e-vehicle batteries working on swapping model in the next three years, and it’s working with a number of national and international intermediaries to create a large battery bank available to its customers.
Manish Chhajed, financial advisor to Lithion Power, said the model suited for India is different from that for the US or China as here it will be driven by shared mobility and not high-end cars like Tesla.
Adaily charge costs between Rs 75-300, depending on the battery backup a consumer wants. One battery runs an average 70-100 km. Gupta expects the battery swapping market will mature in about three years. He said that by 2019, a consumer in Delhi-NCR will not be more than 2 km away from a Lithion swap station.
“This is an emerging marketbased model that we have created, and we are targeting shared mobility, which has high asset utilisation, with our product,” Piyush Gupta, director at Lithion Power, told ET.
He said the company and its partners will cumulatively invest around $1 billion, or about Rs 6,410 crore, over the next 2-3 years.
Lithion Power looks to emerge as a leader in the segment that has not quite been explored in the Indian market.
Currently, the company operates around five swapping stations — where users can swap their close-to-discharge batteries for a fully-charged one — in the national capital region (NCR), and it’s strictly focused on public transportation electric vehicles, lastmile electric three wheelers, erickshaws, and two-wheelers.
“Battery swap for electric cars will take time, as we need to work with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to understand the specifications of their car, and make a battery accordingly,” Gupta said.
Lithion Power expects India to have more than one million e-vehicle batteries working on swapping model in the next three years, and it’s working with a number of national and international intermediaries to create a large battery bank available to its customers.
Manish Chhajed, financial advisor to Lithion Power, said the model suited for India is different from that for the US or China as here it will be driven by shared mobility and not high-end cars like Tesla.
Adaily charge costs between Rs 75-300, depending on the battery backup a consumer wants. One battery runs an average 70-100 km. Gupta expects the battery swapping market will mature in about three years. He said that by 2019, a consumer in Delhi-NCR will not be more than 2 km away from a Lithion swap station.
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