The breakthrough solution was inaugurated by Amrendra Singh Kishore (IOFS), Director, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India, in the presence of Anand S, Vice President and Business Head, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles; TV Srinivas, Head of Product Planning, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles; Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Chairman of SUN Mobility; and Ashok Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of SUN Mobility HEV Business. The three-day exhibition, held from July 9 to July 11 in Gandhinagar, brought together leading bus and vehicle operators, original equipment manufacturers, and policymakers from across the country.
SUN Mobility HEV has developed the modular multi-battery swapping solution specifically for commercial vehicles to overcome key barriers to fleet electrification, including high vehicle acquisition costs, charging downtime, operational inefficiencies, and limited scalability. The company stated that India's electric bus market has reached a decisive stage as earlier initiatives such as the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles Phase II programme, the current PM E-Drive scheme, and state-level procurement targets collectively accelerate the transition toward electric mobility.
The company said fleet operators are increasingly focusing on electrifying staff transportation, city transit services, and intercity routes, making battery swapping a practical addition to the country's electric mobility ecosystem. By enabling rapid energy replenishment, reducing vehicle downtime, and lowering electrification costs, the technology offers an economically viable solution for both low-utilisation and high-utilisation commercial fleets while maximising operational efficiency. According to a 2025 study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, India's commercial bus market is currently valued at approximately USD 12 billion.
Speaking during the launch, Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Chairman of SUN Mobility, said the company was established with the vision of making electric mobility as convenient, scalable, and economically viable as conventional transportation by transforming energy infrastructure. He described the unveiling of the world's first Modular Multi-Battery Swappable Solution on the Tata Starbus EV platform at Prawaas 5.0 as a defining milestone. He said the technology has the potential to accelerate large-scale electrification across the commercial vehicle ecosystem by providing a cost-effective and operationally efficient energy solution for multiple applications while positioning India as a global leader in next-generation electric mobility technologies.
Ashok Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of SUN Mobility HEV, said the future of commercial vehicle electrification would be driven not only by vehicles but also by the energy ecosystems supporting them. He said the company's modular battery-swapping platform on the Tata Starbus EV enables staff transport, city transit, and intercity operations to function on a common energy platform without compromising affordability or operational reliability. He added that the technology represents an important step toward mass adoption of electric commercial transportation.
At the centre of the showcase was SUN Mobility HEV's AIS-038-certified Modular Multi-Battery Swappable Solution integrated into the Tata Starbus EV platform. The architecture allows two battery packs to be exchanged simultaneously in less than five minutes, significantly reducing turnaround time while improving fleet utilisation and operational flexibility.
The modular platform supports both 100 kWh and 50 kWh battery configurations and is compatible with commercial vehicles ranging from 3-tonne to 55-tonne gross vehicle weight. A common architecture supports multiple operational applications while allowing fleet operators to select battery capacity according to their specific requirements.
The system operates under SUN Mobility HEV's Battery-as-a-Service model, under which the battery is separated from vehicle ownership. Operators pay only for the energy consumed instead of purchasing the battery pack with the vehicle. This approach transfers battery replacement, maintenance, performance, and technology obsolescence responsibilities to the battery-swapping operator, reducing financial risks while improving financing opportunities comparable to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.
The company stated that the common battery, vehicle, and swap station architecture enables deployment across staff transportation, urban transit, and intercity operations without requiring modifications to the underlying infrastructure, providing a significant advantage for large-scale commercial electric vehicle deployment.
Each swappable electric vehicle functions as a connected node within SUN Mobility HEV's intelligent digital network, continuously transmitting battery health, vehicle location, driver behaviour, energy consumption, and predictive maintenance information while supporting over-the-air software updates. The platform is powered by the company's proprietary Digital Twin technology, which creates a live virtual replica of every battery pack and swap event, enabling predictive battery degradation analysis, remote fault diagnosis, optimised battery swap scheduling, and vehicle-level carbon accounting.
SUN Mobility described the Modular Multi-Battery Swappable Solution as an important milestone for India's commercial electric vehicle ecosystem, highlighting the growing role of indigenous and original equipment manufacturer-agnostic energy infrastructure. Beyond eliminating tailpipe emissions, the platform supports national priorities related to energy security and globally competitive mobility technologies.
The technology is backed by more than 275 patents developed entirely in-house, reflecting the company's strategy of designing and manufacturing advanced electric mobility solutions in India for global markets.
Building on its established presence in electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and small commercial vehicles, SUN Mobility HEV has expanded its battery-swapping technology to heavy commercial buses and trucks. The integrated ecosystem combines modular smart batteries, high-throughput Quick Interchange Stations, and a cloud-based Smart Network, enabling buses and trucks to replenish energy within minutes while eliminating charging downtime, reducing range concerns, and improving fleet productivity. The platform supports buses measuring between 7 metres and 13.5 metres and trucks ranging from 3-tonne to 55-tonne gross vehicle weight, allowing operators to manage multi-manufacturer fleets using a common energy infrastructure. By removing battery ownership from vehicle purchases, the company aims to reduce acquisition costs, improve financing viability, and eliminate concerns related to battery replacement and technology obsolescence.
Founded in 2017 by Chetan Maini of Maini Group and Uday Khemka of SUN Group, SUN Mobility has emerged as a global pioneer in battery-swapping technology with operations extending beyond India into Africa and Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. The company is supported by investors including Bosch, Vitol, Helios Climate, and Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Through its Swap Point infrastructure, SUN Mobility provides battery-swapping solutions for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and heavy electric vehicles.
To accelerate nationwide deployment, the company has established IndoFast Swap Energy, a 50:50 joint venture with Indian Oil Corporation Limited, to rapidly expand India's battery-swapping network. SUN Mobility has deployed more than 1,900 Swap Points across more than 23 cities, completed over 70 million battery swaps, enabled more than 465 million electric kilometres, and contributed to the elimination of over 100,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The launch of the world's first Modular Multi-Battery Swappable Solution for heavy electric mobility represents another significant step in strengthening India's transition toward cleaner, scalable, and globally competitive commercial transportation.
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