PUNE In a bid to make Pune the first electric vehicles-ready city in India, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is planning to undertake many infrastructural policies. One such infrastructural policy is the installation of battery-swapping stations. Under the 15th finance commission (FC) funds, ₹15 crore has been allotted for 625 battery-swapping stations.
Additional municipal commissioner Kunal Khemnar, who is the chairperson of the electric vehicles’ (EV) cell of the PMC, said, “We have added the proposal of battery-charging stations for e-mobility. It will take at least six months for it to get commercially developed.”
Recently, the EV cell of the PMC held a meeting with the commissioner, industry stakeholders, and the RTO. “According to the feedback received in the meeting, the battery-swapping technology is in its initial stages. There needs to be a particular kind of ecosystem for the same,” said Khemnar.
Under the fund allocation, the PMC will create 32 batteries per swapping station with a capacity of 1.5 kWh each. Khemnar said, “There are a couple of companies that have approached us. They have given demonstrations but it is not yet available for market use.”
Battery-swapping, which is a popular method for charging smaller electric vehicles, involves replacing discharged batteries with charged ones. The union government in its budget this year announced the plan to introduce a battery-swapping policy soon.
{{/usCountry}}Battery-swapping, which is a popular method for charging smaller electric vehicles, involves replacing discharged batteries with charged ones. The union government in its budget this year announced the plan to introduce a battery-swapping policy soon.
{{/usCountry}}The battery-swapping policy is currently in its draft stage at the NITI Aayog. The concept which is new for India will take months to get implemented. Asked about the inclusion of the proposal in the 15th FC, Khemnar said, “Currently, we have given a tentative amount which can be re-appropriated for other schemes, depending on the demand and necessity. We will wait for the NITI Aayog policy. It will take time.”
Though installation of battery-swapping stations is a step towards electrification of city transport, there still needs to be a proper plan for the same. In a letter written by Parisar and other social organisations in Pune, this issue was raised. The letter which was addressed to Aaditya Thackeray said that there is speculation over the workability of the method.
Ranjit Gadgil, programme director, Parisar, said, “If the corporation is planning to invest crores of money for battery-swapping, there need to be proper guidelines. At present, it is a speculative project. Punekars should not face the consequence of some untested experiment.”
The organisation also claimed that money allotted for components of electric vehicles was originally meant for just electric buses and charging stations, according to the state policy. The letter objected to the PMC’s diversion of funds to other things.
Gadgil said, “We have also asked for a clear quantification of the impact of the steps mentioned in the plan. They have to know how much air pollution will be reduced by each of these actions. Also, there needs to be a proper policy to put out the terms and conditions, vision and open tenders for battery-swapping.”
While there are many new initiatives being undertaken for e-vehicles, there need to be proper guidelines and policies for their implementation.