Amazing interview! It's so good to see Mr. Maini forging ahead and solving problems that the rest of us haven't even envisioned. These particular solutions require infrastructure and tons of it, but from the looks of it, the path that he envisions, it will be taken care of by Sun Mobility. Customer get what they want, with quality assured, at the best prices! :-) This time again he has tied up with a trusted name. Ashok Leyland is well loved throughout our country! Just like Mahindra & Mahindra is, which was his previous partnership. Such synergy is infectious and we hope to see more of it!
This makes great business sense. Swapping 300 car battery @ Rs 100 per car is Rs 30,000 per day! Game changer! And the cost of electricity can be zero if sourced from Sun, wind, Bio-ethanol or biogas or even a combination of any of the 4.
This how my FB post reads: Yesssss!!!! This is what I had been dreaming of. A swappable battery changing system instead of recharging for hours. This technology will break all strereotypes now. Mark my words.✌
Ek number!! This is looking great. People like him are creating cost effective and hassle free solutions for us. Just hope that all OEMs agree to battery swapping with him.
Very Good!!! Chetan Sir is pioneer of EV in India. Don’t forget before Tesla or Nissan Leaf. REva was highest selling car in UK. Hopefully we will understand his vision and in courage his efforts...
Great idea, it will definitely boost EV industry. Currently 3W EV are using Lead Acid battery which has very high weight, charging time and poor life. Battery swapping will solve this problem and will reduce investment of common man. 👏👏👍
But which one to consider. Daily commute is about 30kms only. Fast charging not required, as i have other alternative. Which brand to go with Okinawa or Hero
Suggest you ride both and see which one suits you. They are both in-hub BLDC motors; controller & battery manufacturer may vary. Hero has lithium and that gets our vote. Okinawa has Li-ion variant coming soon. Body type & styling vary. So look at our reviews both are good. Decide Li-ion or Lead-acid & make sure the dealer supports you. That is your contact for service, so if you have a good dealer, you have nothing to worry about.
SunMobility should consider "Uber-ization" aka Franchise where small businesses or homes on highways can invest and host smaller models (20 battery) and the profit can be shared FAIRLY (unlike Uber). But it will all depend if vehicle makers follow this model of inserting and removing batteries. Having 2 running models between Mumbai-Pune & Mumbai-Goa would be great. There is also urgent need for powerwall that can charge cars to be used in areas with power cuts. Half of India already have inverters and batteries so switching to solar powered powerwall is easy to solve the charging problem. In Goa n Kerala people are open to EV but what to do when there are random powercuts and people cannot charge from grid?
Better place - an Israeli startup was probably the first to come up with this idea and overall approach - but they ventured into personal mobility first- the idea was sound but they failed in economics. Mr Chetan Maini's rationale seems more grounded and realistic. The very aspect to focus on public transport first (before personal transport) is genius- it has larger impact and could achieve meaningful economics.
It will only work with trucks buses and other heavy vehicles Tesla also offered swappable batteries but most of the customer chose battery charging with battery technology getting cheaper ,more range and faster charging. Swappable will be obsolete.
So, this solution can swap 300 batteries per day. Now, it needs to store and charge at least 100 batteries at a time right? Charging 100 batteries at a time is let alone a huge task. Also the space required for this 100 batteries to be stored is quite large. In places like Mumbai...infra isn't cheap to start with. Maybe they can use existing refuelling stations and convert them into a SwapStation.
Mukund Rajamannar I get that... But vertically stacking the batteries will require more advanced infra (robotics)...to put them in place and remove them, which will add to the cost. (Lot of Capex already to get those batteries etc) But say the batteries are charging at 50KW. So 50*100 = 5MW charging capacity needs to be installed... Also...faster charging during peak hours needs to be established! I know that Sun Mobility is smart enough to already consider these factors..and I am really excited to see what and how they come up with solutions to these challenges.... Also, hope they figure out charging these batteries using renewable energy...that would be a cherry on the cake! Hopefully, I get to work on that too personally.
Kaustubh Kadu That's true. 300 batteries mean 3lakh x 300nos = 9Cr. Only big companies can do this. Especially if it has to scale up fast. But if this thing can be reduced to 20 to 30battery and 1cr per swap-station it can spread quickly like virus because it is possible for small business or garage to invest their money. Also it would be much easier charging 30 battery from grid than say 100 or 200 batteries. Always better to have 100 such stores spread out in your neighbourhood than say just 3 stores. Queues too would be lesser .
PlugIn Caroo 'Less investment' than a petrol pump + lesser 'area' than a petrol pump would make it awesome! Also, I have a question that - 'What if the battery which is being swapped is damaged in some way by the earlier user? Also, less government intervention may be required if the Capex is low. One more question - It will be like now for every vehicle there has to 2 batteries in theory (Maybe 2 batteries among 3 vehicles or something like that), so the total cost for the company might increase!
Amazing interview! It's so good to see Mr. Maini forging ahead and solving problems that the rest of us haven't even envisioned. These particular solutions require infrastructure and tons of it, but from the looks of it, the path that he envisions, it will be taken care of by Sun Mobility. Customer get what they want, with quality assured, at the best prices! :-) This time again he has tied up with a trusted name. Ashok Leyland is well loved throughout our country! Just like Mahindra & Mahindra is, which was his previous partnership. Such synergy is infectious and we hope to see more of it!
This makes great business sense. Swapping 300 car battery @ Rs 100 per car is Rs 30,000 per day! Game changer! And the cost of electricity can be zero if sourced from Sun, wind, Bio-ethanol or biogas or even a combination of any of the 4.
This how my FB post reads: Yesssss!!!! This is what I had been dreaming of. A swappable battery changing system instead of recharging for hours.
This technology will break all strereotypes now.
Mark my words.✌
Absolutely stunning idea. This guy is awesome... Now i feel someone is talking.. All the best and I hope this solution catches up as fast as possible
Ek number!! This is looking great. People like him are creating cost effective and hassle free solutions for us. Just hope that all OEMs agree to battery swapping with him.
Very Good!!! Chetan Sir is pioneer of EV in India. Don’t forget before Tesla or Nissan Leaf. REva was highest selling car in UK. Hopefully we will understand his vision and in courage his efforts...
Great interview. It is just what I wanted to hear about an open charging infrastructure "Great Idea".
Great idea, it will definitely boost EV industry. Currently 3W EV are using Lead Acid battery which has very high weight, charging time and poor life. Battery swapping will solve this problem and will reduce investment of common man. 👏👏👍
marvellous, amazing no words to express innovative solution this is the best example
This is a great vision, and it's success is going to be good for our nation.
Great work guys. Very important interview you guys had . Thanks a lot .
Great .. please make sure this happens soon .
Well done. Loved ur content. Planning to replace my scooty with an e-scooter
Do it! You'll love it!
But which one to consider. Daily commute is about 30kms only. Fast charging not required, as i have other alternative. Which brand to go with Okinawa or Hero
Suggest you ride both and see which one suits you. They are both in-hub BLDC motors; controller & battery manufacturer may vary. Hero has lithium and that gets our vote. Okinawa has Li-ion variant coming soon. Body type & styling vary. So look at our reviews both are good. Decide Li-ion or Lead-acid & make sure the dealer supports you. That is your contact for service, so if you have a good dealer, you have nothing to worry about.
Superb idea....this guy has vision
That's good which Indians need
I like this idea
Finally it's all happening. 😇
SunMobility should consider "Uber-ization" aka Franchise where small businesses or homes on highways can invest and host smaller models (20 battery) and the profit can be shared FAIRLY (unlike Uber). But it will all depend if vehicle makers follow this model of inserting and removing batteries. Having 2 running models between Mumbai-Pune & Mumbai-Goa would be great. There is also urgent need for powerwall that can charge cars to be used in areas with power cuts. Half of India already have inverters and batteries so switching to solar powered powerwall is easy to solve the charging problem. In Goa n Kerala people are open to EV but what to do when there are random powercuts and people cannot charge from grid?
Grt idea sir... Gd initiative
That's genius. All the best
It can get great if you use movable charging stations loaded with battries..Like CNG is transported
Awesome!!! Thanks a lot for the video!
Excellent.
One word. Legend!!!
Very good company
Better place - an Israeli startup was probably the first to come up with this idea and overall approach - but they ventured into personal mobility first- the idea was sound but they failed in economics. Mr Chetan Maini's rationale seems more grounded and realistic. The very aspect to focus on public transport first (before personal transport) is genius- it has larger impact and could achieve meaningful economics.
It will only work with trucks buses and other heavy vehicles Tesla also offered swappable batteries but most of the customer chose battery charging with battery technology getting cheaper ,more range and faster charging. Swappable will be obsolete.
Great
Great fast charger v imp
This cool idea
So, this solution can swap 300 batteries per day.
Now, it needs to store and charge at least 100 batteries at a time right?
Charging 100 batteries at a time is let alone a huge task.
Also the space required for this 100 batteries to be stored is quite large.
In places like Mumbai...infra isn't cheap to start with.
Maybe they can use existing refuelling stations and convert them into a SwapStation.
Mukund Rajamannar I get that...
But vertically stacking the batteries will require more advanced infra (robotics)...to put them in place and remove them, which will add to the cost. (Lot of Capex already to get those batteries etc)
But say the batteries are charging at 50KW. So 50*100 = 5MW charging capacity needs to be installed...
Also...faster charging during peak hours needs to be established!
I know that Sun Mobility is smart enough to already consider these factors..and I am really excited to see what and how they come up with solutions to these challenges....
Also, hope they figure out charging these batteries using renewable energy...that would be a cherry on the cake!
Hopefully, I get to work on that too personally.
Kaustubh Kadu That's true. 300 batteries mean 3lakh x 300nos = 9Cr. Only big companies can do this. Especially if it has to scale up fast. But if this thing can be reduced to 20 to 30battery and 1cr per swap-station it can spread quickly like virus because it is possible for small business or garage to invest their money. Also it would be much easier charging 30 battery from grid than say 100 or 200 batteries. Always better to have 100 such stores spread out in your neighbourhood than say just 3 stores. Queues too would be lesser .
PlugIn Caroo 'Less investment' than a petrol pump + lesser 'area' than a petrol pump would make it awesome!
Also, I have a question that - 'What if the battery which is being swapped is damaged in some way by the earlier user?
Also, less government intervention may be required if the Capex is low.
One more question - It will be like now for every vehicle there has to 2 batteries in theory (Maybe 2 batteries among 3 vehicles or something like that), so the total cost for the company might increase!