Sun
Mobility, a leading provider of energy infrastructure and services for electric
vehicles (EVs), announced a partnership with SmartE, India’s largest electric
vehicle fleet operator, to deploy its universal energy infrastructure to
support SmartE’s growing EV operations.
In
April 2018, SUN Mobility showcased the Interoperable Smart Mobility solution
for 2-and-3 wheelers and this is the first-of-its-kind deployment in the
country for electric three-wheelers. SmartE’s fleet of electric three-wheelers
will make use of SUN Mobility’s solution and will be deployed at SmartE Park
& Charge Hubs across the Delhi-NCR, to bolster its first and last-mile
connectivity services. The month-long field trials for this solution were
successfully concluded in Gurugram last week and the partnership will see SUN
Mobility scaling the battery swapping infrastructure over the next 3 months to
support 500 electric three-wheelers in Phase 1.
The
two companies have come together, leveraging their expertise in product and
solution to drive convenient, affordable and zero-emission last mile
connectivity for the NCR region. Goldie Srivastava, Co-Founder and CEO, SmartE,
said, “The partnership underscores our commitment to make last-mile commute
easy, safe, affordable and eco-friendly for everyone. SUN Mobility’s
Interoperable Smart Mobility solution will enable us to rapidly scale up our
vision without having to worry about the energy infrastructure.”
“As
a pioneer in the electric mobility service space, SmartE plans to roll-out
100,000 vehicles by 2022. At 100,000 vehicles, SmartE will help reduce close to
a million tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent of planting 17 million trees
per year,” he added.
SmartE
already has an ongoing partnership with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and
delivers nearly 80,000 rides to commuters daily. SmartE has served over 30
million pollution-free rides in the past three years since inception and is
India’s largest electric vehicle service platform today.
By
using SUN Mobility’s Smart Batteries, which use the advanced Lithium ion
technology, the weight of the vehicle is reduced by 100 Kgs improving the
efficiency of the vehicle, therefore allowing for increased mileage, better
pickup and higher gradients. The Quick Interchange Stations enable electric
three-wheeler drivers to swap their batteries in under two minutes. The pilot
results show a spike in the revenue as drivers are able to operate the vehicle
for 40% longer range compared to the conventional Li-Ion battery-based vehicles
and 80% more compared to conventional Lead-Acid battery-based vehicles.
“Conventional
electric three-wheelers that run on lead-acid batteries usually require eight
hours of overnight charging and four hours of opportunity charge during the
day. The assets remain idle half of the time during the day and could only
cover 60-80 km which cause a loss of potential revenue. Our solution, through
swapping, enables them to realise the full potential of last-mile transport and
clock more than 150 kms per day,” said Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman,
SUN Mobility. “The partnership with SmartE will enable us to tangibly impact
the lives of hundreds of people by making ‘refueling’ of electric vehicles
faster, cheaper and more convenient for them to adopt,” he added.
SUN
Mobility’s solution will aim to significantly augur the earning opportunity for
electric three-wheeler drivers on SmartE’s platform, as it addresses the main
challenges of high-replacement cost, low-life of the battery, limited-range,
and long-refueling time. SUN Mobility’s Quick Interchange Stations’ computer
controlled advanced charging and thermal management enables over 200 swaps a
day and utilise less than 1/50th the real estate space for regular charging.