Common swapping stations for electric buses remain a focus as India develops standards for swappable e-bus batteries to assure interoperability and convenience of battery change while also addressing range anxiety.
This will lessen infrastructural limitations while increasing overall efficiency.
In India, 8,583 electric buses had been registered as of early July 2024. According to Hindustan Times, the central government plans to replace the existing 8,00,000 diesel buses with electric buses by 2030, so that the number is expected to rise sharply. The Centre also intends to create consistent battery requirements for electric buses to increase adoption, reports add.
Meanwhile, the NITI Aayog’s draft Battery Swapping Policy focuses on electric two- and three-wheeler segments. However, providing universal battery standards for e-buses is intended to improve interoperability and encourage battery swapping in the e-bus market.
Also, electric bus adoption in the private sector is low, even though national programmes such as PM e-Bus Sewa, FAME and the National Electric Bus Programme have helped State Transportation Undertakings (STUs) increase the number of electric buses in their fleets. Not many well-established private operators with adequate funding are moving forward.
Currently, STUs receive central government subsidies to purchase electric buses under Gross Cost Contracts (GCC), which include bus supply, operation, charging infrastructure, maintenance and driver costs.
Moreover, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), with cooperation from NITI Aayog, investigated battery switching for electric two-wheelers in India by examining factors impacting total cost of ownership (TCO), as per the HT report. That work provides a strategic framework for further investigating battery swapping in the private bus sector.
In India, all-electric buses are charged via plug-in. A full charge typically takes 20–40 minutes utilising DC fast charging or 6–8 hours with lower-powered slow charging.
A total investment of Rs 1.5 trillion ($18 billion) is expected to be required to support the 8 lakh buses by 2030, which includes power and upstream infrastructure across cities and intercity routes, the publication reports. The projection also involves major charging station areas every 100 kilometres on each side of the highways.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a national battery-swapping strategy with interoperability standards in the Union Budget 2022–23.
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