Hyderabad-headquartered battery-swapping start-up RACEnergy will soon enter India's electric two-wheeler (E2W) battery-swapping space. The company is already present in the electric three-wheeler battery-swapping ecosystem.
Speaking to Mobility Outlook, Arun Sreyas, Founder, RACEnergy, said, “We would primarily be partnering with E2W players in the B2B and last-mile logistics space.”
Having raised $3 million from GrowX Ventures, Micelio, Prophetic Ventures, & Huddle, the start-up is raising more funds for the planned expansion. As of today, the start-up says that its network (Hyderabad) is witnessing over 500 battery swaps per day on average.
OEMs, Logistic Companies As Partners
The rise of E2Ws in the last mile deliveries segment is one of the prime reasons for the start-up to enter the segment. Sreyas added that the company has already signed E2W battery swap agreements with some OEMs and logistics players. However, he did not share the names.
About the competition in the space, he said, “There are only a handful of players present in the space. Our entry into the E2W ecosystem will translate into healthy competition between established companies and start-ups.”
Honda Powerpack Energy, Sun Mobility, and Gogoro are some of the biggest players in the vertical. Notably, the likes of Zypp Electric, Zyngo, and more such last-mile logistics players have recently announced aggressive plans. Moreover, MNCs like Amazon, Flipkart, and Zomato have also included E2Ws in their delivery vehicle fleets, and battery swaps will play a crucial role in this journey towards net-zero emissions.
However, the start-up is not too keen on entering the B2C space as most of the everyday commuters use their E2Ws for a limited range majority of the days.
Sreays said that while the start-up has not finalised a particular business model for its E2W battery swap business, the franchise model is being seriously considered. The start-up might also introduce the same in the E3W battery swap space if the same gets the go-ahead for its E2W business.
New Facility
Sreyas is of the view that his start-up's biggest strength is the fact that it manufactures batteries on its own. He explains that not being dependent on third-party manufacturers allows the team to embed the latest technologies in the battery packs
As a result, the start-up is now looking at commissioning a new facility for manufacturing batteries. 'Our first battery manufacturing facility was sort of a pilot run for us. Now that we are confident, we will soon announce a second facility,' he said.
RACEnergy's second facility will also be located in Hyderabad, he confirmed, and with the expansion of battery manufacturing capacity, the start-up will also expand its services into one more Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.
“We would stick to South India for some more time to drive our next stage of growth. While we have excellent experience operating in Tier-1 geographies, we will definitely want to gain experience in Tier-2 cities,” Sreyas said.
Apart from battery swap, the start-up is also present in several other electric vehicle domains, including propulsion kits and vehicle monitoring platforms. As per a report by Mordor Intelligence, the Indian battery swapping for electric two-wheelers market is expected to reach $27.14 billion, registering a CAGR of 18% over the next five years.
More Around Battery Swapping In India:
Gogoro Exploring Franchise Battery Swap Stations For India
“SUN Mobility Will Introduce Battery Swap Station Franchises In India”