SUN Mobility and Veera Vahana have launched a new modular battery-swapping system for heavy electric vehicles in India. This innovation is designed to lower expenses, enhance efficiency, and speed up the integration of electric buses and trucks into the commercial transport industry.
SUN Mobility, a provider specialising in energy infrastructure and services for electric vehicles, recently unveiled what they describe as the world’s pioneering modular battery-swapping technology specifically designed for Heavy Electric Vehicles (HEVs). This breakthrough was announced in collaboration with Veera Vahana, a bus manufacturer based in Bangalore, during the launch of their new 10.5-meter battery-swappable buses. These buses are intended for intercity and mofussil routes and were introduced at Prawaas 4.0, an international conference organized by the Bus & Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI).
SUN Mobility’s innovative Smart Battery technology is adaptable for a wide range of vehicles, including light, medium, and heavy trucks and buses, accommodating vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) between 3 tonnes and 55 tonnes. The company asserts that its battery-swapping technology can reduce the initial purchase costs of buses by as much as 40%, thereby aligning the cost with that of traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) buses. This cost efficiency, combined with improved access to financing, could significantly lower the barriers to adopting electric vehicles for fleet operators.
Furthermore, SUN Mobility claims that its battery-swapping solution can diminish operational costs for fleet owners by up to 20% while also boosting vehicle uptime. This is attributed to the swift battery-swapping process, which is completed in less than three minutes. Additionally, the compact and lightweight design of the battery not only simplifies logistics but also enhances the payload capacity of the vehicles.
