By S.M. Boothem

Sun Mobility offers battery swapping as a solution to the transportation industry, its technology helping electric vehicles (EVs) fast refuelling, which is economically viable and enables the drivers to get their vehicles quicker for the next ride. The company’s swap points, set up at many prime locations across cities, play key role for a greener and cleaner future of mobility.     

Sun Mobility also works closely with its drivers for a variety of issues, which help improve their lifestyle and increase income. Says Anant Badjatya, CEO: “Sun Mobility’s battery swapping solution is user-friendly and is designed to make electric vehicle journeys hassle-free. With our technology, two-wheel and rickshaw drivers can now experience unlimited range and don’t have to worry about long charging hours. It’s not just about convenience; it’s also about saving money. Our services have helped drivers in increasing their savings by up to 30 per cent compared to ICE vehicles, making sustainable transportation more accessible and economical for everyone. It’s heartening to see our drivers live a better and more comfortable life; while many have been able to save up enough to pay off their debts, there are many who have enrolled their children in schools”.

Talking about drivers using Sun Mobility’s swapping points in Delhi, Ramkumar Gupta, one of the drivers says: “I have been using Sun Mobility’s battery for more than 1.5 years.  I am happy in many ways – increasing my income both daily and monthly, saving time, more mileage and more trips.  On an average, I earn Rs25,000 in a month.”

Added another driver, Ravish Kumar Mishra: “Earlier, I was using the water battery and facing a lot of problems in mileage, safety and time.  Ever since I moved to their swap point, all my problems have disappeared. More mileage, less time and only a few minutes to swap the battery at charging stations. My earnings have also gone up significantly.” But both drivers have a concern about Sun Mobility’s customer service facilities and are looking for more improvement in this area.  

 Expansion plans

Earlier this year, at the Auto Expo, Sun Mobility launched SwapX, a sleek and compact, fully automated battery-swapping solution. The company also launched its next-generation battery pack – S2.1, offering a higher battery power with 45 per cent more range. SwapX is a plug-and-play battery-swapping solution that caters to a mass customer base to support small and medium businesses – pharmacy stores and department stores – to set up and manage swap points at their locations. The solution offered by a franchisee is to support and offer a revenue model to small players by increasing the network and encouraging mass-scale adoption of EVs.

To bring more players into the Sun Mobility folder, the company recently partnered with Bluwheelz, an EV start-up in the electric mobility sector. This collaboration signifies a step forward in advancing the cause of clean and sustainable urban transportation. By integrating Sun Mobility›s EV technology into Bluwheelz’s fleet, Bluwheelz can leverage Sun Mobility’s battery-swapping solution, based on battery-as-a-service and mobility-as-a-service.

Through the next 12 months, the two companies are looking to deploy over 15,000 electric two-wheeler vehicles and 1,000 electric three-wheelers in all metropolitan cities. Sun Mobility also plans to retrofit BluWheelz’s existing 4-wheeler loader fleet into electric; 1,000 over the next 12 months. The deployment in Delhi has already started, with 500 vehicles on the roads. Sun Mobility’s swap points are also put up across all Indian Oil Corporation’s fuel stations.