HPCL and Honda boost e-mobility in India with first e:swap station
The oil company plans to expand this new model across the country which lets customers exchange their depleted batteries with fully charged ones in 2 minutes.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Honda Power Pack Energy India Private Limited (HEID) have partnered to launch their first e:swap station at the fuel retailer’s COMCO outlet in Bengaluru. Taking a significant leap toward its sustainable mobility drive, customers can exchange the depleted batteries with fully charged ones in 2 minutes at this new facility.
Both companies celebrated the inauguration with a ceremony attended by several representatives from both firms. The rolling out of this e:swap location is a result of nearly two years of a pilot test conducted at one of the HPCL outlets at Thane and two other locations.
“HPCL is committed to accelerate India’s transition to greener energy. We are one of the biggest Charge Point Operators in the country with 1,058 EV Charging Stations at our retail outlets across the country. Today, we are launching another game changing initiative in partnership with HEID. e:swap Stations will make swapping batteries a breeze for e-auto rickshaws at Bengaluru,” said Sandeep Maheshwari, Executive Director of Retail at HPCL.
The oil company has expanded its services with this Battery-as-a-Service model instead of traditional cable-based charging of electric vehicles (EV), which allows drivers to lend batteries as a separate component from the vehicles. The garden city of Bengaluru will have more than 70 such e:swap stations in a year and the concept will expand into other cities of the country.
“Swappable batteries address the key EV adoption issues such as - high upfront costs, range anxiety and long charging times. While Honda brings best-in-class technology to e:swap, HPCL with its 20,000+ retail outlets in the country and huge presence in all cities, will ensure scalability and smooth operations,” added Maheshwari.
