Bounce Infinity has tied up with Bharat Petroleum to establish 3,000 battery swapping stations across the country. Bounce currently offers the E1 electric scooter, which features a removable battery. The E1 can be bought with the battery or without it by using a ‘battery as a service’ subscription model. Those opting for this subscription model are free to use any of Bounce’s battery swapping stations across the nation.
To make this swapping solution more feasible, the company has now joined forces with Bharat Petroleum (BP). As part of the partnership, Bounce will be installing its swapping stations at BP’s filling stations across India. In total, the partnership will result in 3,000 new swapping stations being established in 10 major cities. If that distribution is equal, then each major city should end up with roughly 300 swapping stations, which is quite a healthy number, and sure to make this a feasible solution.
How the swapping stations work
Bounce’s swapping stations contain four, six or nine slots, where the batteries can be stored and charged. A customer simply has to remove a fully-charged battery and re-insert the depleted battery and plug it in to charge. Bounce says it has both manned and unmanned swapping stations in its network, and in the case of the unmanned stations, all the activities are done via the company’s app.
Bounce also says that these swapping stations will support its interoperable partners (any other vehicles that use the same battery as its own), meaning that two- and three-wheelers from other manufacturers will also be able to use these stations. The battery pack in the Bounce Infinity E1 is a 2kWh lithium-ion unit. You can learn more about the scooter in our detailed review here.