Battery swapping for upscaling vehicle fleet electrification - A Primer

May 19, 2025

As India builds its ambition for electrification of the new vehicle fleet and developing strategies for scalability, policy interest in battery swapping is gaining ground. This works with a Battery as a Service (BaaS) business model, which allows delinking of the battery, and the battery is offered through a system of lease or subscription plan bringing about a tangible reduction in upfront cost of the vehicle.

With this model, the electric vehicle (EV) user can easily and quickly replace a discharged battery with a fully charged one at any designated swap station—and it is faster than filling a fuel tank. The EV user can pay a regular subscription fee for batteries to service providers throughout the lifetime of the vehicle.

While battery swapping requires a higher volume of batteries, each unit can have a lower capacity (kWh), as range anxiety is reduced. This will require adequate network density of swapping stations.

Swapping can encourage the use of smaller size batteries and further help to reduce costs and improve energy efficiency. Wherever large batteries are needed for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), they may be dispensed through automated modularized swapping stations.

This study looks at the policy imperatives for battery swapping that requires a larger focus on standardization, harmonization and interoperability for seamless operations. With growth in the sector, the number of service providers are increasing; this is fragmenting markets and clientele as the systems are currently not inter-operable.

The sector needs policies that pay attention to longer term financial instruments that address the vehicle as well as the infrastructure. Setting up battery swapping stations involves substantial investment in land, equipment, and skilled personnel. Access to capital for setting up swapping stations needs more attention.