BatteryPool, a Pune-based startup by Stanford University graduate Ashwin Shankar, is addressing the issue of battery swapping in electric vehicles.

Started in 2018, the company provides battery-agnostic, IoT-enabled smart swapping stations to fleets and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who want to run their battery-swapping services.

Other players either provide their batteries as a service or provide a product with a specific battery standard.

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These are typically 48V battery packs that have 1-3 kWh capacity and provide a range of 40–80 km on a single charge depending on the pack type and EVs in which they are used.

EV riders will only need an average of two minutes to swap their used batteries for fresh ones at the BatteryPool battery swapping station.

“During my stint at a think tank, I was looking at the tech ecosystem in the automotive space. It was evident that they are headed towards an EV future,” he says.

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During his research, Ashwin identified key concerns.

One, workers like food delivery professionals couldn’t afford any downtime in their operations, and they are always on the move.

Two, for fleet operators there is no standard battery pack since each OEM has their own battery standard.

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Third, fleet operators have their own applications.

With Ashwin’s solution, fleet operators and existing battery-swapping operators don’t have to download separate applications, but rather use their existing Application Programming Interface (API) to access the station.

BatteryPool has more than 80 swapping stations across New Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru and provides a swapping stack to operators who deploy and manage a network of these stations.

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In the coming years, Ashwin says they are looking to launch a product for charging non-swappable packs as well that will complement the swapping station offering.

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