[TusharK]

Bounce Infinity has partnered with Bharat Petroleum to set up 3,000 battery swapping stations across India.



As part of the deal, Bounce will install battery swapping stations at Bharat Petroleum fuel bunks across the top 10 cities. Customers will be able to search for the nearest swapping location on the Bounce App. The swapping stations will have charged and ready-to-go batteries that customers can easily swap with their near-empty batteries in a few minutes.

Battery swapping is also said to reduce the upfront cost of e-scooters by 40-50%. It would also support 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers that have been converted to EVs from internal combustion vehicles.

Link to Team-BHP News

[lordrayden]

What if I go to the station, swap out my battery, and what I get in exchange is one that has been internally damaged from the previous bike that has been in some accident (quite common).

Given the lax quality controls in our country, this kind of thing could slip under the radar. Then there's a real possibility that my bike and I will end up being in the news for fiery reasons!

[ritesh_44]

Originally Posted by lordrayden

What if I go to the station, swap out my battery, and what I get in exchange is one that has been internally damaged from the previous bike that has been in some accident (quite common).

Given the lax quality controls in our country, this kind of thing could slip under the radar. Then there's a real possibility that my bike and I will end up being in the news for fiery reasons!

According to their representative, if you are buying the scooter with battery, you can only loan the battery and need to give it back later, you don't need to exchange it. Exchange is only for people who have bought the scooter without battery.
They should do quality check for batteries before putting in the swap station for charging though.

[Torino]

Originally Posted by lordrayden

What if I go to the station, swap out my battery, and what I get in exchange is one that has been internally damaged from the previous bike that has been in some accident (quite common).

Bounce Infinity claims that their batteries are 'smart and IOT enabled' with several intelligent mechanisms to ensure safe battery management. I think Bounce should list the smart, intelligent, safe battery features they claim and explain how they work in such accident damage situations.

On the other hand, Gogoro the global leader in battery swapping have their version of 'smart battery' who's features I've quoted below from their website. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything similar in Bounce Infinity's website.

Each of Gogoro's Smart Battery contains an array of sensors and a micro computer that allow it to wirelessly and securely communicate with the outside world. That data helps future-proof Smart Batteries with every swap by keeping them up to date with the latest software to increase longevity, efficiency and capacity down to each individual energy cell. Onboard intelligence makes battery theft nearly impossible while ensuring that all rider information is fully secure.

As the Gogoro Network continues to grow, everything gets smarter. Irregular electrochemical patterns are automatically identified so that issues are caught and solved before they result in failures.

source

[kiredd1005]

This is very good news for EV owners. But there's a very big quality risk in my opinion, especially if the battery has a minor/major issue which may go unnoticed to an average user. Hope they do a proper QC for every single battery before they let it out for swapping.

[G V Krishna]

Even though this Battery Swapping concept sounds assuring for range anxiety people, honestly I would say this does not work out (not sustainable) in our country mainly due to:

1. Weather - India is a country that has parts that see +50 degrees Celsius in summer and there are also parts that see -15 degrees Celsius, and of course we have the torrential downpours due to cumulonimbus clouds across many cities and towns. In this aspect weather proofing the Lithium batteries or batteries that are made of similar composition is the key aspect in driving the success of Battery Electric vehicles (BEV). Especially in the case of two wheeler vehicles, I would not shy away to question the non-existent cooling mechanism which result in serious fire accidents. In short I opine that the foolproof (read fireproof) way is to factory seal the battery compartment and any battery swaps should be done only at Authorized Service Centers that too by only who are capable of resealing the compartment to IP67 specifications.

2. My fellow brothers and sisters in India are very street-smart. Though I cannot question the honesty of all or many, but I would say however 'smart' the battery is, there are smarter people who'll for sure ruin the battery swapping scheme/program.

The only path for long term success of BEV is to have a super charger network in all PSU Oil bunks. This is highly doable and very easy. And also the naysayers for the BEV revolution, please do not base your arguments on poorly built motor cycles/scooters. Take examples of Proven vehicles like Tesla, Nexon EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E etc..,

Anyway, whoever accepts or not BEVs are the future. Oil motors for passenger cars would be a bygone era by the next decade.

[COMMUTER]

Once the subsidies on the purchase and runnning costs end and the rampant and absurd taxation starts, they will shut down pretty quick. The real costs involved in the battery vehicles will be prohibitively higher than real vehicles.

[condor]

Saw one Infiniti battery swap point just outside the Vijayanagar Metro station in Bangalore today.

Couldnt take a pic since I was driving, and could not stop in the traffic.