BPCL offers swappable batteries for electric vehicles

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has stepped into the electric vehicle space (EV) by rolling out a battery swapping programme in Kochi and Lucknow on Monday. BPCL has partnered with EV maker Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions and IIT Madras for the project. The electric three-wheelers manufactured by Kinetic will be offered fully-charged batteries on swappable basis at BPCL retail outlets. The programme was rolled out through video conferencing at an event in Chennai.

D Rajkumar, chairman and managing director said, “Electric vehicles would be having an increasing share of the urban transportation canvass in the years to come. BPCL has embarked upon a new and unique model for EV mobility, the first-of-its-kind in the country, ahead of the competition.”The entire technical framework and architecture of the programme have been designed and tested by IIT Madras. Besides, they have also supported BPCL in finalising the specifications of the battery, charger, IT infrastructure and mobile applications required for the initiative. 

The solution has been implemented on a fleet of Kinetic Green E3W at Kochi and Lucknow. The model is designed to address some of the critical concerns and deterrents faced by the drivers for owning electric three-wheelers. CEO, Kinetic Green, Sulajja Firodia Motwani said the electric vehicle with swappable battery technology reduced upfront the cost of the vehicle by 50%. And the drivers will not have to worry as the alliance facilitates a convenient battery network.  The partners will now expand the alliance to cover more cities in next few months.

Exchange batteries at BPCL retails outlets

BPCL will provide lithium-ion batteries to the auto-rickshaw drivers and they can approach the nearest BPCL retail outlets for exchanging their discharged batteries with charged batteries.