Range anxiety exists and so does its solution!
Sustainable living is an emerging trend and mobility is an important aspect where people are inclined to make a conscious choice. The Electric Vehicle (EV) space is also witnessing a transformation as new players enter with disruptive tech innovations enhanced with style and comfort for a range of vehicles — scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, cars, and even public buses. These vehicles are a great practical solution to move around the city as they translate into big savings, especially with the rising fuel prices. However, there are some real downsides associated with EVs. The EV owners can face several problems including limited service options, lack of available public EV charging infrastructure that can lead to — range anxiety.
Range anxiety is a term coined to describe the nervous feeling electric vehicle owners get when their battery charge is running low and they can’t find an available charging station. This sparks fear into their hearts, which adds time and stress to their journey. Moreover, studies have proven that driving range and lack of charging stations affect people’s interest in buying an electric vehicle. It’s not uncommon for those who are wary about electric vehicles to cite range anxiety as a big factor behind their reluctance. However, the current introduction of policies from the government like deployment of extensive charging infrastructure, battery swapping with interoperability standards, subsidy under FAME and FAME-II schemes; have made EVs popular and we’re experiencing a reduction in the stress of owning one.
How is the Government addressing range anxiety?
It’s encouraging to see how the future of EVs is looking in emerging markets. While the electric two-wheeler (E2W) and electric three-wheeler (E3W) segment is showing promising growth now, it’s projected that their usage will be widespread in the future because of their accessibility and affordability will allow them to gain traction more easily than any other mode of travel. The sale of electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) boomed over 60% in FY 2022, while sales of electric three-wheelers (E3Ws) declined by 20%. People were more inclined to buy E2Ws because fuel raised in price and the cost of ownership for an E2W was lower than for an internal combustion engine (ICE). The segment saw an enormous increase in sales of over four times on a year-over-year basis in FY2022 and reached 149,204 vehicles.
Keeping this in mind, the Union Budget for 2022–23 has emphasized promoting electric vehicles as a means of transportation in the country. Besides the existing incentives under faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicle (FAME-II) scheme (INR 10,000 crores) and production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery (INR 18,100 crores) and other alternative energy technologies (INR 25,938 crores), the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to implement a battery swapping policy with interoperability standards which is expected to reduce range anxiety and promote sustainable mobility solutions.
Battery swapping policy with interoperability is an excellent move that allows EV owners to charge at any charging station, thereby addressing range anxiety. This helps when considering the expansion of infrastructure and space because all EV owners can charge at a charging station, regardless of the make of their vehicle or battery. Sitharaman also mentioned that the government will encourage the promotion of the battery-as-a-service (BaaS) model to bring efficiency to the ecosystem. If batteries are offered to
customers as a ‘service’ that is equivalent to refueling at a fuel station, its upfront costs can be reduced significantly.
This announcement is good news for electric scooter manufacturers in India and is also in line with Bounce’s vision that battery swapping is the next big thing for India. At Bounce, we are excited to know that Government and policymakers have recognized how battery swapping will accelerate EV adoption in India by addressing range anxiety and hesitancy.
Bounce Infinity E1: ‘Driving out’ range anxiety
Bounce is a Bengaluru-based electric vehicle (EV) startup with an intention to solve the pressing challenges of electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) and promote mainstream EV adoption in India. We recently launched the Bounce Infinity E1, a one-of-a-kind e-scooter in India that effectively resolves range anxiety for its owners because it comes with a removable battery. With this unique innovation, Bounce is proposing multiple ownership models to its prospective customers — E1 with the battery or E1 and battery-as-a-service. This means that every time the battery is low on charge, the rider can go to the nearest swapping station and swap/exchange it for a fully charged battery.
Since the battery is no longer a part of the equation, the pricing of E1 has gotten much more affordable. In fact, you can get it for INR 45,099 (ex-showroom Delhi) only. The battery accounts for almost 40% of the vehicle cost. So, the rider only has to pay per swap or opt for a subscription plan. With this option, the cost works out to INR 35 per swap, which translates to about 65 paise per km. Riders can save on the time spent charging and don’t have to worry about battery maintenance and replacement costs. Alternatively, one can also purchase E1, with its removable battery and charger, for INR 68,999 (ex-showroom Delhi).
Since the Infinity E1 swap stations are small and require 10 sq. ft. of space, they can be placed anywhere — like mom-and-pop shops, fuel stations, residential complexes, and office buildings. Bounce has also partnered with companies that specialize in property services such as NoBroker — so that residents will be able to find a place to swap their batteries conveniently around their neighborhood without any hassle. Moreover, we have a live network of 150+ swapping stations across Bengaluru and we are set to invest over USD 100 million to expand our current swapping infrastructure in the next 12 months. Bounce has announced the launch of 3,500+ battery swapping stations covering 10 major Indian cities including Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. To make this vision a reality, Bounce has forged strategic partnerships with leading brands like Park+, Helloworld, Readyassist, Goodbox, Kitchens@, etc.
Our vision is to build the world’s largest and densest battery-swapping network and offer our customers a swapping facility within 1 km to address range anxiety. The network of battery swapping stations will serve both our retail customers and our rental business. We’ve already installed around 250 swapping stations in Bengaluru and Vijayawada for our scooter rental services. There’s a swapping station every 2–3 km in Bengaluru and by March, when we will begin the delivery of our electric scooter in India to at least eight major cities, we will have 400–500 swapping stations each.
At Bounce, we have crossed a million battery swaps already and the Hon’ble Finance Minister’s announcement ties in with our vision that clean, affordable mobility is a fundamental right. BaaS is the mobility solution of tomorrow because it solves range anxiety and drastically reduces cost compared to a traditional fuel-powered scooter.
