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Mumbai – 10.08.2022
Taking a significant leap toward its sustainable mobility drive, the Maharatna Oil Co. of India, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Honda Power Pack Energy India Private Limited (HEID), the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda), a global mobility giant, launched their first e:swap Station at HPCL’s COMCO outlet at Old Airport Road, Bengaluru on 6 August 2022.
Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles have to make way for environment friendly Electric Vehicles (EVs) for a brighter, greener and sustainable future. However, the adoption of EVs is not easy, especially when charging the EV battery is not as fast as filling the fuel (Petrol/Diesel) tank. This is where the fascinating technique of battery swapping brought in by HPCL comes into play. Traditional cable-based charging of EVs is replaced by another solution, battery swapping. Customers can exchange the depleted batteries with fully charged ones in 2 minutes at e:swap Stations. Furthermore, this Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model allows customers to lend batteries as a separate component from the vehicles. Lending the battery saves upfront purchase cost of an EV.
In a glittering ceremony held at HPCL’s Old Airport Road outlet, the e:swap Station was inaugurated by Mr. Sandeep Maheshwari, ED – Retail, HPCL, Mr. D.K.Sharma, ED – C&SP, HPCL , Mr. Arata Ichinose, Operating Executive, Business Development Supervisory Unit Head, Honda and Mr. Kiyoshi Ito, President and CMD, HEID. This will cater to e-3 wheelers at present. The rolling out of this e:swap station is a result of nearly two years of hard work during which the PoC pilot was conducted at one of the HPCL outlets at Thane and two other locations. Every aspect of the battery sharing service was closely scrutinized and tweaked during the pilot to have full safety and ease.
The garden city of Bengaluru will have more than 70 such e:swap Stations in a year and then other cities will be taken up.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sandeep Maheshwari, Executive Director – Retail, HPCL said: “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. Swappable batteries address the key EV adoption issues such as - high upfront costs, range anxiety and long charging time. Over 90% of the country’s vehicle sales are of 2Ws and 3Ws. The simplicity of vehicle design and the smaller battery packs needed to power the electric versions of 2/3Ws makes them a prime candidate for swapping. 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.”
Executive Director-Corporate Strategy, Planning & Business Development, HPCL, Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sharma marked the event as a small step towards taking a giant leap for revolutionizing the e-Mobility ecosystem of India in the days to come. Wishing all the success to Honda, he said that with the kind of meticulous planning & detailed market research done by Honda in collaboration with HPCL over last 2 years in Indian markets, this is going to be a market disruptive move in transforming the e-mobility markets for 2 & 3 wheelers in the years to come.
Operation Executive, Business Development Supervisory Unit Head, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Mr. Arata Ichinose said he appreciated the great support by HPCL toward HEID’s challenges and emphasized the importance of relationship with all partners. As Honda’s target, he also stated to bring cleaner and greener future for customer’s life by expanding battery swap service starting from Bengaluru.
President & CMD, HEID, Mr. Kiyoshi Ito said that HEID would focus on three actions - expanding its battery swap network in Bengaluru, ensuring the reliable service with a highly integrated system monitoring every unique battery and exchanger, and supporting vehicle manufacturers who are developing EV that utilizes Honda Mobile Power Pack e:.
The partnership with Honda in the field of e-mobility reaffirms HPCL’s commitment to work towards carbon neutrality and greener future of India by pursuing affordable & sustained electrification of India’s transportation system.