PULKIT KHURANA and Siddharth Sikka are no novices to mobility. Before Battery Smart, a battery-swapping network for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and e-rickshaws in 2019, the IIT-Kanpur graduates had tried their hands on an intracity bus pooling application in 2015.
In 2020, they set up first battery-swapping station in Delhi-NCR. It has since expanded in 28 cities with 1,000 stations. Battery Smart partners with small businesses to set up stations. The partners are responsible for maintenance, infrastructure and electricity connection. For every swap, the vehicle owner pays ₹50-100 to Battery Smart. Of this, 40% goes to the partner. “Customer service and dense network is what differentiates us,” says Sikka. Battery Smart does more than 80,000 swaps in a day. It wants to scale up by five times in next 15 months. The company is also evaluating a foray into battery storage solutions by repurposing the batteries. For FY23, it incurred a loss of ₹61 crore as against a loss of ₹12.86 crore in previous year. The company has raised $100 million so far. — Astha Oriel