Start-up VoltUp partners with HPCL for battery swapping centres

Electric two and three wheeler battery swapping solutions start-up VoltUp on Monday said it has partnered with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for opening battery swapping centres.

The partnership is looking to open 50 battery swapping solutions centres across India in the next six months. The first two centres have been unveiled in Jaipur, the company said in a statement.

"With this tie up, VoltUp aims at providing infrastructure for instant swapping to end consumers, last mile delivery, shared mobility providers, OEM's and logistic players with smart lithium-ion batteries in a connected environment friendly manner," it added.

The partnership aims at leveraging the country wide network of HPCL, technological advancements of VoltUp in the field of battery swapping technologies, and shared synergies of improving the urban mobility by keeping it at pace with the conventional usage system, the statement said.

Commenting on the partnership, VoltUp CEO Siddharth Kabra said, "HPCL, an already active player in EV segment, recognises the importance of swapping infrastructure in sync with their current model of instant fuelling."

This clearly resonates with VoltUp's business model of instant swap on pay as you go basis thus also addressing the challenge of higher upfront cost of EVs, he added.

"This tie up with HPCL will accelerate the need for safe, sustainable smart urban mobility while impacting positively the lives of future generations with cleaner air. This will enhance our network of smart swapping stations bringing smiles to owners of e vehicles," Kabra said.

With a quick to use smart battery swapping networks being set up under tie up with HPCL, it will promote the end users to find a fully charged battery within their neighbourhood, he added.

HPCL Executive Director, Corporate Strategy Planning and CSP Business Development, Rajnish Mehta said there is an industry consensus that the Indian EV market will be dominated and driven by the 2-3-wheeler commercial segment. For this segment, battery swapping offers the best alternative to slow charging and helps the drivers to make optimum use of their operational hours.

"However, to make battery swap successful, a dense and thick network is essential, so that consumers feel confident about the availability of swaps. HPCL is doing its part in making this market thick on the supply side by means of its wide network of retail outlets which are the natural energy refueling points for all consumers," he added.