NITI Aayog has issued draft Battery Swapping Policy with the objective to support the adoption of battery swapping technology implemented via BaaS business models which will ensure lower upfront costs, minimal downtime, and lower space requirements. The policy addresses key technical, regulatory, institutional, and financing challenges that will help develop battery swapping ecosystems to unlock the large-scale adoption of battery swapping in India.
The key objectives of the policy are as follows:
- Promote swapping of batteries with Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) batteries to decouple battery costs from the upfront costs of purchasing EVs, thereby driving EV adoption.
- Offer flexibility to EV users by promoting the development of battery swapping as an alternative to charging facilities.
- Establish principles behind technical standards that would enable the interoperability of components within a battery swapping ecosystem, without hindering market-led innovation
- Leverage policy and regulatory levers to de-risk the battery swapping ecosystem, to unlock access to competitive financing.
- Encourage partnerships among battery providers, battery OEMs and other relevant partners such insurance/financing, thereby encouraging the formation of ecosystems capable of delivering integrated services to end users.
- Promote better lifecycle management of batteries, including maximizing the use of batteries during their usable lifetime, and end of life battery recycling.
After due deliberations and taking cognizance of all the inputs provided by relevant stakeholders, NITI Aayog has drafted the Battery Swapping Policy which can be viewed here
NITI Aayog has invited comments on the draft policy latest by June 5, 2022.