IOC battery swapping facility for EVs launched

The State-run fossil fuel giant Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (Indian Oil) has launched a battery swapping facility for electric vehicles (EVs) at its petrol pumps. In battery swapping technology the batteries can be fully charged in less than 2 minutes.

IOC battery swapping facility for EVs launched

The company commenced this as the pilot project at one of its outlets in Chandigarh and scale it up to 20 stations said the company chairman Sanjiv Singh. The battery swapping technology is the best way to save time and helps the owners and the fleet operators and the drivers to make use of the operational hours.

This battery swapping model is initially targeted at commercial vehicles such as electric autos, rickshaws and electric two-wheelers and EVs that are either factory fitted or retrofitted.

The IOC is India’s top fuel retailer which covers half of the market but now it is making a foray into EV charging. It has partnered with Sun Mobility for setting up battery swapping facility, called Quick Interchange Station (QIS).

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IOC QIS pumps insert fully discharged battery into a dispensing station and get a fully charged one in just 1-2 minutes, he said. The pilot project QIS has 14 batteries, a touch screen for swapping preloaded cards and an electricity sub-meter.This QIS will play an important role in charging electric three-wheelers.

“While users may be receptive to switching to EV, they may not want to struggle through the cumbersome recharging process. This is where battery swapping comes into the picture,” he said. “Not only will battery swapping eliminate the unnecessary waiting time for battery recharging, but it will also help with better land use, reduce the size of batteries in vehicles, and ensure an increased run time.”

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