Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a Maharatna company in the oil and gas space, has forayed into the electric vehicle arena with the launch of its ‘e-Drive – stop, swap, go’ initiative in Kochi and Lucknow.
The battery-swapping system for three-wheelers in the two cities was launched by D. Rajkumar, CMD of BPCL, through videoconferencing from Chennai on Monday. The system is the first of its kind in the country, officials said.
The benefits of the model are that it is affordable and the driver does not have to invest in purchasing the battery. The driver would have to give a specified amount as rent to BPCL. Above all, the waiting time to recharge batteries is eliminated through swapping batteries that are low on charge with fully charged ones made available at charging hubs in fuel stations. The swapping takes around three minutes.
Mr. Rajkumar said that because of concerns over rising air and noise pollution and rapid urbanisation, electric vehicles are set to have an increasing share in urban transportation. “We have collaborated with IIT, Madras, for technological support and with Kinetic Green as mobility partner.”
In this model, the three-wheelers will be owned by Kinetic Green. BPCL, with support of IIT, Madras, would provide lithium-ion batteries. The IIT has finalised the IT infrastructure for the swapping process. In Kochi, about two dozen electric-powered three-wheelers have been leased out to a cooperative society of autorickshaw driver unions.
“Accountability is fixed by scanning the QR code of each battery. A pair of batteries can power a three-wheeler for 60 km, following which it can be swapped at fuel stations for fully charged ones. A GPS enables tracking of number of kilometres travelled, battery performance, charge available, etc.,” said Sudheendran P.C., Assistant Manager (Sales) Retail of BPCL.
