Bounce Infinity partners with BattRE to provide battery swapping network

Bounce Infinity has partnered with Jaipur-based EV maker BattRE to provide its battery swapping network to the latter.

In the first phase of operations, Bounce said, it would be deploying a minimum of 300 battery swapping stations in every top city for BattRE.

The Bengaluru-based smart mobility firm, which launched its first consumer e-scooter Infinity E1 in December last year, operates its battery swapping network under the brand name, Bounce Infinity.

The tie-up comes amid the EV OEM looking to invest ₹100 crore to expand its dealerships network to 700 in the first half of this calendar year, add four products, including two high-speed e-scooters, a high-speed e-motorcycle, and a high-speed loader to its portfolio besides enhancing its and R&D capabilities by the end of next fiscal.

The company's current portfolio comprises e-scooters — Batt:RE One, Lo:ve, IoT, gps:ie and e-bicycles — Newtron, Montra, Kross and Huge-- which are sold through over 380 dealerships spanning over several states.

"We are confident that we have an alliance of strong partnership to push forward into our next phase of long-term growth," said Vivekananda Hallekere, Co-Founder & CEO, Bounce.

This collaboration is a step forward in the company's goal of building smart electric solutions for India, he stated.

"We have doubled-down on our efforts to transform mobility with advanced technologies and services that ties-up with our mission of access to mobility for all," Hallekere added.

The stations are designed to be compact, user-friendly, and highly accessible; making the network accessible to consumers at the same scale and convenience as refueling, the company said.

The battery swapping structure is a pod-like automated unit that houses multiple batteries and keeps them charged and ready for use.

This proven station will be diversified across prominent locations including, residential societies, key parking spaces, fuel bunks, malls, corporate offices, fuel stations, kirana stores, among others, Bounce said.

Consumers looking for swapping batteries for their scooters can search for the nearest swapping location on the designated app and every swap takes no longer than 1-2 minutes, addressing the range anxiety, the company claims.

"Initial buying cost of an EV is high and is currently not driven by use cases. I believe battery swapping infrastructure and BaaS (Battery-as-a-Service) will be useful not just for personal use but will act as an important support system for commercial use cases," said Nishchal Chaudhary, Founder, BattRE.

He said his company's over 380 strong dealership network coupled with Bounce's charging infrastructure will prove to be a fruitful synergy for both the entities and a value proposition for the customers.

Bounce said its swap facilities are designed keeping interoperability in mind to support diverse vehicle segments, brands, and models, adding, it aims to set up such stations within 1-kilometre of anywhere in the city.

The company is building a robust swapping infrastructure to support over one-million scooters, it added.