Battery swapping to accelerate EV adoption in heavy-duty trucks, says Blue Energy Motors MD

The electrification of heavy-duty trucks remains a challenge in India, as the cost of acquiring an e-truck is three times that of a diesel-powered truck. Blue Energy Motors, which launched India's first electric truck with an energy-as-a-service offering, aims to disrupt this with a subscription model.

Backed by Essar, Italy's Iveco Group, and Nithin Kamath, the Pune-based automaker is attempting to crack the holy grail of electrification in one of the most challenging automotive segments: heavy-duty trucks.

“The elephant in the room is the capital cost. What the battery swap allows us to do is separate the truck from the battery. The truck can now be sold without the battery. The capital cost of the truck drops by half, becoming almost equal to diesel,” Anirudh Bhuwalka, founder and managing director of Blue Energy Motors, tells Business Today. “Battery swapping will accelerate EV adoption. As you roll with it, as technology develops, time will tell how these networks will adapt. There is no other way to go electric,” he says.

“The capital cost of electric trucks is three times that of diesel. In a country like India, it is not easy to spend ₹1 crore on a truck because it is not a lifestyle product,” says Bhuwalka. Range anxiety is even a bigger problem in trucks, he says, adding that trucks take more time to charge.

No wonder the EV adoption in electric trucks is going at a snail's pace. Of the 40 lakh heavy-duty trucks that ply on Indian roads, the total number of electric trucks is about 300.

Battery swapping could be one of the options for electrification of heavy-duty trucks, says Shenu Aggarwal, Managing Director and CEO, Ashok Leyland. “There are several ways to address the customer’s problems of higher upfront cost and range. Battery swapping has been very popular in China. At Ashok Leyland, we are trying to explore all options. We will do some pilots at the right time to see which options are best for Indian customers,” he said. Eicher Motors, too, is examining the feasibility of battery swapping in heavy-duty trucks. “Battery swapping is one of the options that is being considered. Some companies are working on it,” said Vinod Aggarwal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, VECommercial Vehicles, a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors.

India has 4 million medium- and heavy-duty trucks on the road. In the next 10 years, this number is expected to grow to 8 million vehicles, and CO2 emissions are also expected to double, says Bhuwalka. “Nobody talks about trucks going electric and people don’t realise that trucks contribute almost 44% to the automotive pollution,” says Bhuwalka.

Blue Energy Motors expects to sell 100 electric trucks by the end of March 2026. “Our target is to sell 30,000 e-trucks in the next three years. We have invested $50 million. We are looking at expanding capacity and swap stations,” says Bhuwalka. Blue Energy Motors has also set up two battery swap stations in Maharashtra. “As the truck rolls into a battery swap station and the battery gets swapped in 5 minutes,” says Bhuwalka.

Set up in September 2022, Blue Energy Motors initially focused on liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks. “We came up with a dual strategy of solving the decarbonisation problem for trucking. The first was to introduce LNG. While CNG is stored at atmospheric pressure, LNG is liquefied at -125 degrees. When you cool the gas, it becomes liquid. The idea is that if you cool the gas, you can package more gas in it. When it comes to long-haul routes, Mumbai to Delhi, you need more fuel. So, we came up with a strategy of LNG for long-haul trucking,” says Bhuwalka.

Of the 4 million medium- and heavy-duty trucks on India’s roads, about 2 million are used for long-haul logistics. “We sold about 300 LNG trucks last year. In FY26, we are looking to sell 900 LNG trucks,” said Bhuwalka. To be clear, there are only 28 LNG stations in India.