About 80 percent of all electric vehicles in India today are e-rickshaws, as an increasing number of rickshaw pullers are shifting to affordable and cheaper means of clean transportation.  However, e-rickshaws come with their own set of challenges, including a battery charging time of up to 10 hours, limited revenues, and investment in expensive new batteries. The replacement cost per battery is Rs 25,000-Rs 28,000.

Lead-acid batteries usually weigh close to 80 kilograms, which reduces vehicle mileage. As the battery cannot be refurbished, an e-rickshaw owner typically returns it to the vendor after it has run its life. Founded in 2020, with a vision to impact the livelihoods of the e-rickshaw community, Delhi-based electric mobility startup Battery Smart is aimed at building India's largest network of EV-battery swapping stations.

Get connected to Battery Smart What does it solve? IIT Kanpur batchmates and friends for over eight years, Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka have extensive experience when it comes to consulting in startups, having previously worked on several mobility initiatives.

They co-founded a mobility startup called Pods in 2015, as an app-based intra-city bus pooling service in Gurugram. However, it was operating in a market that had big players like Shuttl, and could not compete. 

Post this, Pulkit immediately joined Shuttl to further his interest in that space, and worked in the company for four years. He became the Head of Supply and quit in October 2019 to start Battery Smart. 

Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2021/03/delhi-startup-batterysmart-solving-charging-problems-e-rickshaws