Yuma Energy has more than doubled its business to 50,000 swaps per day over a year, and plans to increase it to 1.5 lakh/day by the end of the year.
22 Mar 2025 | 1543 Views | By Darshan Nakhwa, Kiran Murali, and Prerna Lidhoo
As India accelerates its shift to electric mobility, inadequate charging infrastructure remains a key obstacle. This is where battery swapping–a faster and efficient alternative to charging–has emerged as a game-changer. With wider adoption of swapping solutions among delivery operators, the competition in the sector has intensified.
Meanwhile, Yuma Energy–a ...
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As India accelerates its shift to electric mobility, inadequate charging infrastructure remains a key obstacle. This is where battery swapping–a faster and efficient alternative to charging–has emerged as a game-changer. With wider adoption of swapping solutions among delivery operators, the competition in the sector has intensified.
Meanwhile, Yuma Energy–a joint venture between North America based Magna International and shared mobility startup Yulu–has established itself as a key player over the last two years. In 2025, it plans to build on this momentum by scaling its network, enhancing operational efficiency, and forging key partnerships to drive three times growth in revenue.
By the end of 2025, the company aims to increase its battery swapping points in India to 350 from 220 and charging units to 5,000 from 1,500, the company’s Managing Director and General Manager Muthu Subramanian told Autocar Professional. While the majority of these stations will be in major metro cities, the company is actively expanding into tier-2 and tier-3 markets as well.
“We are already present in several tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Our approach is not limited to specific regions—we are scaling from tier-1 cities to tier-2 and tier-3 markets to ensure widespread access to battery-swapping solutions.," Subramanian said.
Most of the swapping stations are company-owned. But last year it also introduced franchise operations in Indore, Kochi and Tirunelveli. However, Subramanian emphasised that franchising will not be the dominant model.
“The franchise model will remain a complimentary strategy rather than our primary mode of expansion, as the company-owned and operated locations allow us to address customer pain points more effectively,” he explained, adding that the company carries out its swaps in less than one minute.
Partnerships
Despite its rapid expansion plans, Yuma Energy has confirmed that it is not actively seeking additional funding at the moment. Instead, the company is focusing on strengthening its strategic partnerships to enhance its battery-swapping ecosystem. The company is in talks with multiple OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to integrate its swapping network across multiple brands.
“We are actively engaging with multiple OEMs, though it’s too early to disclose details… We are also in discussions with OMCs to explore potential collaborations that offer strategic advantages,” Subramanian said.
Currently, the Battery-as-a-Service provider also has partnerships with electric vehicle manufacturer Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions Ltd and Yulu. A significant portion of Yuma’s business comes from Yulu, which is also a shareholder in the company. Meanwhile, as part of a tie up with Yuma Energy, Kinetic Green plans to deploy a total of 100,000 electric two and three-wheelers over four years for shared passenger mobility and last-mile delivery.
Both Kinetic Green and Yulu customers can utilise all of Yuma Energy’s swapping network and the same will apply for customers of other manufacturers as well, according to Subramanian.
“Our network is agnostic to the customers, so it is cross utilised. It's not dedicated to one or two customers. That's how we are going to be operating. For us, the goal is to increase the utilisation of our network so we can improve the efficiency of our operations,” he said.
In terms of battery swaps, Subramanian said, the company has completed 23 million lifetime swaps, with 13 million swaps recorded in 2024 alone.
“Currently, we have an installed capacity of close to 2 million swaps per month. Our current exit run rate is around 1.5 million swaps per month–double the 700,000 swaps per month we recorded while entering 2024… In 2025 we're targeting to exit maybe north of 4.5 million swaps a month. So 3x growth is what we are looking at, and the revenue will grow accordingly.”
Demand Drivers
At present, fleet operators are the primary adopters of battery swapping, but Subramanian expects personal EV users to follow as the network expands.
“I think overall, the industry is excited about battery swapping as a solution. In the near term, demand will be led by the delivery ecosystem, with fleet customers benefiting from the higher uptime. And as the network becomes more widely available, personal mobility users will start adopting battery swapping as well,” he said.
“In 2024, about 1 million electric scooters were sold in India, but only a small percentage were for fleet or delivery use. As quick commerce and e-commerce continue to grow, industry estimates suggest that by 2030, more than 2 million delivery riders will need reliable battery-swapping solutions,” he projected.
“We see a huge potential in this market for battery swapping, considering uptime needs and the challenges in infrastructure, including around fast charging. Even if you want to set up fast charging, you have to have power available at that location and space. So, we do see a larger adoption in the fleet business for battery swapping to about 20 to 30%,” he said.
However, for wider adoption of battery swapping solutions, Subramanian acknowledged that personal EV users must also come onboard. “That's where the large portion of the market is (in terms of sales), whether it's people commuting to office, or using two-wheelers for other activities. I think that's where the vast majority of the market is going to come from,” he said.
Beyond two-wheelers, Yuma Energy has entered the three-wheeler segment, specifically targeting e-rickshaws in northern India.
"There is a large market for e-rickshaws, but it comes with unique challenges. We are cautiously optimistic about this segment because of price sensitivity and the fluctuating costs of battery cells. However, we see significant potential in serving this market with our swapping solutions," Subramanian said.
GST Concerns
Despite industry growth, regulatory challenges remain—especially around Goods and Services Tax (GST) taxation on standalone batteries. Currently, when a battery is purchased along with an electric vehicle, it is subject to a 5% GST. However, when batteries are sold separately for swapping, the GST rate jumps to 18%, Subramanian said.
This higher tax burden gets passed to consumers, making battery swapping more expensive than it needs to be. The industry is now urging policymakers to lower the GST on standalone batteries, which would further accelerate adoption. “A policy push in this area would be a game-changer,” he added.