Rapido, one of India's leading cab aggregator services, has partnered with IndoFast Energy to introduce 10,000 electric autos with swappable batteries nationwide in the next 24 months. The e-auto, the Piaggio E-City Max, will be supported by a robust battery-swapping infrastructure. Rapido plans to introduce the first batch of 1000 e-autos with swappable batteries by the end of this year. This project will start in Hyderabad, Bangalore, and other southern cities and then move to other parts of the country.
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Rapido's current project is based on a pilot program that the cab aggregator ran in 2023. It included integrating IndoFast's battery-swapping tech into Rapido's platform in select cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi. The pilot project's success prompted the two companies to set up 100+ battery-swapping stations in Hyderabad and Bangalore. Rapido plans to switch 20% of its daily rides to these new e-autos with swappable batteries.
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A battery swapping station massively cuts down on the time it takes to charge an electric vehicle's battery from empty to full. There is no need to spend time at a charging station. You just swap the depleted battery of your electric vehicle with a fully charged one. It also allows electric vehicle owners to pay only for the energy they use. Rapido says that besides introducing new electric autos, it is also considering expanding its services to include premium two-wheelers and retrofitted three-wheelers.