Cost of renting swappable battery pack will depend on battery degradation levels: Siddharth Kabra of VoltUp

VoltUp co-founder & CEO Siddhartha Kabra

Mumbai-based VoltUp is championing the use of swappable batteries for an ever-growing base of electric two and three-wheelers. With the aim of fortifying last-mile delivery fleets while also growing its individual customer base, the startup aims to be a market leader in the swappable battery space. Having just signed up for a partnership with BPCL, VoltUp’s first order of business, this year, is to set up 150 stations across the country, with 40 earmarked for Mumbai. As of today, VoltUp has three battery-swapping stations across BPCL fuel stations in Mumbai. In an interview with Moneycontrol, VoltUp Co-founder and CEO Siddharth Kabra talks about why battery as a service (BAAS) will pave the road to mass electrification.

When it comes to BAAS, what brands do you currently share interoperability standards with? 

In terms of two-wheelers, we’ve got Hero Electric. The whole process is that we integrate Hero’s vehicle with our battery and they go for the ARAI certificate. And from there it’ll go for the FAME II subsidy. So it’s only Hero Electric at this point. We’re building an entire system to suit other two-wheelers also, we don’t change the battery. We’re seeing a big roadmap for swapping. Piaggio and Bajaj are looking for solutions for fixed batteries for their three-wheelers.

What sort of market space do you foresee BAAS conquering within the e2W space?

In terms of price points, Hero Electric, with battery is over Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Ather is almost Rs 1.3 lakh. So the difference between those is just Rs 15-20,000. Fundamentally, there’s no big difference in terms of quality. Everyone will have some features. When you see an electric vehicle, they’re always divided into two parts. So the price difference comes not only through the kind of cells and the BMS (battery management system) you use.

NITI Aayog started this discussion a while ago for a strong battery policy. Almost 40 percent of the two- and three-wheelers are in the top 50 cities of the country. The biggest concern for the consumer is ‘where do I park?’ and ‘how do I charge my vehicle?’. If it’s going to charge for almost 3-4 hours, what do I do? And where will people charge these vehicles if vehicle penetration in the city increases? How do you scale it up? Because eventually, you’re talking about 80-90 million two-wheelers in the top 50 cities. For these reasons swapping will play a big role.

There are two concerns when it comes to BAAS. The first one is thermal management at the battery station. The other is the question of battery degradation, which will not happen immediately but can be an issue in the coming years. How do you aim to address that?

It’s a very valid concern. There are essentially two scenarios. One where, in terms of charging safety, which in a fixed battery is much higher. Because the consumer is charging at their premises. The moment the consumer comes on a platform like VoltUp, there are built-in fail-safes in the charging system. For example, a VoltUp battery station will not charge the battery if the battery’s temperature is over 45 degrees. The station has a cooling system which will cool the battery down. Secondly, I think very importantly, the station is also designed to be in a closed environment. That box will have its own fire extinguisher, its own wires, so that the spread is limited, should an incident occur. As for the degradation part, even a fixed battery will degrade. At least in the case of a swappable battery, you can switch to a new one. You’re going to live with that chemistry for a lot longer. Plus with a swapping system, you will be the beneficiary of new technology and new battery chemistry. And at the point of charge and discharge, will get a lot of data in terms of how to prevent degradation.

Eventually, you will come to a stage, where the rider will only pay for the kilometres covered. Basically, the cost of renting the battery pack will depend on its degradation levels.

How many charging cycles can a VoltUp battery currently withstand? 

With LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) it’s 2,000. With NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt), it’s 1,000.

What role is the Adani group playing in the expansion of these battery-swapping stations? 

We’ve just announced a tie-up with HPCL and BPCL. Adani’s distribution arm provides us with green power. In Mumbai, all our stations have clean, renewable power. We pay extra for it. It’s an infra tie-up. With HPCL and BPCL it’s the space. These swapping stations, or fast chargers, will be put up at hotspots, much closer to the consumer space. By 2025, you will have enough stations at housing societies as well. The convenience the last-mile delivery riders experience will drive change at a wider level. Because the person who is going to a petrol pump will see that they have to ride 2 km to get fuel while the delivery personnel are benefitting from close-by charging spots.

There is also the question of recycling all the battery waste that comes from a widespread BAAS network. Does VoltUp have any kind of recycling ecosystem in place?

There is first the BMS and the cells. Those are the two assets. So because these assets get used at a much higher rate, the BMS of the battery pack can be reused. If the asset’s life is two-and-a-half years, out of three battery packs reaching the end of their life cycle, the BMS of two of them will be working. And you use it. So your wastage of the entire BMS becomes drastically less. Compare that to a fixed battery where your BMS will be gone in 6-7 years. Then come the cells. Which can be reused by storage systems. Because they don’t completely degrade. They degrade by 20 per cent. Eventually, you’ll find, there will be tie-ups with recycling companies which remove the metals and re-use it. A recycled cell is actually more effective and has more to offer, according to what I read some time ago.