How battery swapping works in India, and why one network's pack will not fit another's

The short answer first. A battery swapping network does not sell you a battery. It keeps a pool of charged packs in cabinets, you pull out the flat one, slide in a charged one and pay per swap or per month. That is why it suits e-rickshaws and delivery scooters that run all day and cannot afford two hours on a charger. And the pack you pull out belongs to one network only. Its shape, latch, connector, battery management software and the cabinet it talks to are that operator's own design, and no Indian regulation requires them to match anyone else's.

What actually happens at the station

The packs are small and light on purpose, because a rider has to lift one. VoltUp, which says it is live in 15 cities with more than 280 stations, lists a 1.54 kWh pack weighing 12 kg with a 3,000 cycle life, and an average swap time of 30 seconds. You do not pay for that battery. VoltUp's plans start at ₹1,390 a week for its Go plan, ₹3,990 a month for Go+ and ₹4,890 a month for its fleet plan.

For e-rickshaws, the usual route is retrofitment. EVreporter reported in June 2023 that converting a lead-acid e-rickshaw to a swappable lithium kit cost about ₹12,000, roughly the scrap value of the old batteries, with running costs of roughly ₹1.5 per km, and two swapped packs giving about 90 km for ₹130.

Why the packs are not interchangeable

Interoperability in India today means inside one network, not between them. SUN Mobility says its batteries are interoperable across two, three and four wheelers, and that it has more than 2,000 active swap points. That is one pack family serving many vehicle types. VoltUp says it has developed five battery management system families in-house. Nothing in either case lets a rider walk up to a rival's cabinet.

Policy has not closed that gap. NITI Aayog's draft battery swapping policy of April 2022 proposed interoperability standards, a unique identification number for every battery at the manufacturing stage and for every swap station, and a first phase in cities above 40 lakh population. It stayed a draft. The Ministry of Power's January 2025 guidelines went further on plumbing than on packs, defining battery as a service, battery charging and swapping stations and battery to grid, letting operators use an existing electricity connection and allowing liquid-cooled swappable packs for buses and trucks.

The result shows in the numbers. Autocar Professional reported in January 2025 that India had only 2,500 battery swapping stations against 25,202 charging stations for fixed-battery vehicles, with SUN Mobility and Battery Smart each running close to 1,000 stations, and the SUN Mobility and Indian Oil joint venture targeting over 10,000 stations in more than 40 cities within three years.

How China got a common pack

China's answer came from a cell maker, not a ministry. CATL's Choco-Swap uses standard battery blocks, and at its April 2026 tech day it added a #26 block on an 800 volt architecture starting at 75 kWh, alongside the existing #20 and #22 sizes. CATL said 11 automakers and 18 passenger vehicle brands covering 25 models had signed up, with 1,470 stations live across 99 cities and a target of 4,000 by the end of 2026.

What it means if you are buying

Three things to check. Station density on your actual daily route, because a network with 280 stations nationwide may have none near you. The monthly figure is rent, not an EMI, so it never ends, though neither does your battery's warranty risk. And you cannot change networks later without changing the pack, and usually the vehicle.

Bengaluru riders will mostly meet this through fleets. Yuma Energy said from Bengaluru on 29 August 2025 that it had crossed 35 million swaps from more than 2,000 stations at 400 locations in 17 cities, up from 85 stations when it launched in February 2023, serving two-wheelers, three-wheelers and last-mile logistics. Private scooter owners are still not the customer.

Sources

• Battery-swapping players cheer up on Power Ministry's new guidelines, Autocar Professional
• Guidelines Issued to Boost Battery Swapping Ecosystem, Fox Mandal
• Draft Battery Swapping Policy: A Push to EV Adoption, Invest India
• VoltUp
• SUN Mobility
• The silent battery swapping revolution happening in India through retrofitment, EVreporter
• CATL unveils new battery products at 2026 tech day, CnEVPost
• Yuma Energy Is Now India's Fastest-Growing Battery-as-a-Service Provider