Besides e-commerce, parcel and courier, FMCG, industrial goods, organised retail, white goods, beverages and LPG, Switch Mobility is looking at municipal applications for functions such as waste management and tipping on the back of inquiries. The company is also looking at container (reefer) applications for its IeV 3 and IeV 4 against inquires. 

As electric vehicles with a payload of 1,200 kg and 1,700 kg respectively, the IeV 3 and IeV 4 make zero tailpipe emission vehicles in an urban landscape that are considerably less costly to operate. What is interesting is that the IeV 4 with a payload of 1,700 kg is in a ‘spot’ where there is no competition. It is competing with ICE vehicles like the Ashok Leyland Bada Dost (with which it shares the platform) and the Mahindra Bolero Pik-up range, promising in-turn a much lower operating cost. 

The higher initial acquisition cost a challenge, the Switch IeV 3 and IeV 4 are backed by a three-year/150,000 km vehicle warranty and five-year/150,000 km battery warranty. While the battery of the IeV 4 takes four hours to charge with a 32 Ampere AC charger and eight hours with a 15 Ampere AC Charger, the battery of the IeV 3 takes three hours 30 minutes to charge with a 32 Ampere AC charger and eight hours and 15 minutes to charge with a 15 Ampere AC charger.

Observing that the company has gained a good understanding of the market and customers with more than 600 inquiries and delivery of over 300 vehicles, Mahesh Babu, CEO, Switch Mobility, during a media interaction in Chennai averred, “For the IeV 3, we have got over 105 inquiries.” 

Observing that the electric cargo three-wheeler market is about 2,000-3,000 units per month, Mahesh Babu explained that what needs to be considered in the case of electric cargo vehicles is the salary of the driver which is going up among other factors such as the turnaround time. “If the turnaround time is less, the driver salary, loan EMI etc. will be lower and attract a shift to e-trucks of about one-tonne payload capacity that could carry between 50 to 200 parcels,” he added. 

Stating that the cost per parcel will be economical and the e-truck could be deployed for more than one application, Mahesh Babu said, “The ‘leap of faith’ will be done by fleet operators (as organised players) since the technology is new.” “Retail buyers will start once they see the proof of economics,” he added. 

Stressing that this happened in electric three-wheelers and will happen in electric four-wheelers as well, Mahesh Babu articulated, “The FAME subsidy is needed to accelerate EV adoption, which is at less than one percent.” “As an industry, we are preparing to survive without subsidies. From April, whatever we have sold is without subsidy, proving that our products offer value,” he added.   

Confident of getting good numbers by the end of this fiscal through existing and new new applications such as municipal waste management, tipping and reefer container (for perishable goods), Switch Mobility is working with multiple customers and indulging in concept sale rather than a walk-in sale. 

About 8,000 to 10,000 km of test drives are carried out every month with demo vehicles at the dealers by the company as part of its concept sale strategy.

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Nawgati has announced the launch of Aaveg Pro, an integrated operations platform for petroleum dealers, at the Petrol Dealers Association Pune (PDAP) Annual General Meeting. The system is designed to digitise fuel station management within the Indian retail ecosystem.

Aaveg Pro serves as a digital operating system to replace manual workflows in fuel retail. The platform consolidates several critical station functions into a single interface:

• Sales and Inventory: Features include shift-level nozzle reconciliation, live inventory tracking and stock variation control.
• Financial Accounting: The system supports VAT, GST, cess and surcharge handling to maintain audit-ready records and real-time balance sheet visibility.
• Fleet and Credit Management: Dealers can manage digital fleet contracts, consolidated invoicing and credit risk monitoring.

The platform is designed to integrate with existing station infrastructure, such as dispensers, CCTV systems, fuel storage compressors and vehicle-tracking systems, to provide operational oversight.

Vaibhav Kaushik, Co-Founder & CEO, Nawgati, said, “The launch of Aaveg Pro reflects our continued commitment to building solutions that solve real operational challenges for fuel dealers. Fuel retail in India still relies heavily on fragmented and manual workflows across accounting, stock monitoring, reconciliation, and customer credit management. With Aaveg Pro, we are bringing these critical functions onto one integrated platform so that dealers can operate with greater visibility, control, and efficiency.”

Aalaap Nair, Co-Founder, Nawgati, said, “Aaveg Pro has been built specifically for the day-to-day realities of fuel retail operations in India. From shift-level reconciliation and stock tracking to consolidated fleet invoicing and live financial reporting, the platform is designed to reduce complexity and improve decision-making at the station level. Our goal is to help dealers move away from manual processes and adopt a smarter, more scalable way of running their businesses.”

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Charge_iN by Mahindra and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) have signed a strategic agreement to develop electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure at HPCL retail outlets across India. The collaboration aims to utilise HPCL’s national fuel station network to increase the availability of public charging points for electric four-wheelers.

HPCL currently operates over 24,400 retail outlets and has installed more than 5,400 charging stations under its HP e-Charge brand. The new stations established through this partnership will exclusively feature 180 kW dual gun chargers, designed for high-speed charging.

The deployment is intended to support the transition to green transportation in India, currently the third-largest automotive market globally. The agreement focuses on building an ultrafast charging network to improve reliability and reduce charging times for EV users.

The partnership aligns with the government's objective of strengthening public EV infrastructure. By integrating chargers into existing fuel stations, the companies aim to provide a platform for nationwide expansion and seamless access for drivers.

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Electric mobility startup Bijliride has detailed plans to expand its franchise network to more than 25 Indian cities. Operating under a Franchise Owned–Franchise Operated (FOFO) model, the company aims to onboard 30 franchise partners by March 2027 and scale its fleet to between 10,000 and 15,000 electric two-wheelers within the next 18 months.

The expansion the startup claims is projected to drive 150 percent growth in fleet operations. Bijliride has identified several urban mobility markets for this phase, including:

• Tier 1 Cities: Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata.
• Emerging Hubs: Hyderabad clusters, Jaipur, Patna, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, and Kochi.
• Logistics Centres: Nagpur, Indore, Surat, and Visakhapatnam.

The strategy targets demand from logistics operators, gig economy platforms and urban commuters.

Under the FOFO structure, local partners own and manage the fleets while Bijliride provides the technology infrastructure. This includes real-time vehicle tracking, battery management protocols, and rental management systems.

The partners have to commit to a minimum of 50 electric two-wheelers to begin with, an initial investment of around INR 1.4-1.6 million, with a projected breakeven in approximately 15 months under stable fleet utilisation. The startup also assists partners with driver onboarding and connects fleets with demand from local delivery businesses and gig platforms.

Shivam Sisodiya, CEO and Co-Founder, Bijliride, said, “Electric mobility demand in India is growing rapidly, particularly among gig workers and last-mile delivery operators. At this stage, our focus is disciplined scale. The FOFO model allows us to grow responsibly by partnering with local entrepreneurs who understand their markets while leveraging our technology platform and operational systems. This structure enables us to expand faster while ensuring fleets are managed efficiently on the ground.”

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It’s been sometime that Donut Lab has been working on producing a battery that will address the challenging needs of EVs better than other batteries have been able to do. Claiming to be the world’s first solid-state battery ready for production vehicles measured in independent testing conditions, the company has released its third test result that dispels any suspicions that the battery would be a supercapacitor rather than a battery.
The results measure the properties of its solid-state battery, evaluating its ability to retain charge when not in use. Available for download on its site, the third and most recent test follows two other tests that looked at charging speed (the test was conducted by Technology Re) using two passive cooling configurations and evaluation of capacity performance of the battery cell in hot conditions (by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland). 
The test measuring the battery’s ability to retain charge even when not in use was carried out using a simple research setup. It was connected at room temperature to the research laboratory’s battery tester, which repeatedly measured the cell voltage every 10 seconds. Like the previous test that measured battery performance at very high temperatures, this test also began with a 1C capacity test, demonstrating that the cell was precisely the same as the other test examples.
 
After the capacity test, the battery cell was charged to approximately 50 percent charge and left connected to the battery tester for ten days. The cell was then discharged to measure the remaining energy capacity. The results show that the battery cell voltage stabilises during the first 10 hours after charging. Over the next nine or so days, the voltage curve continues to stabilise. A capacity test at the end of the test period confirmed that the voltage drop corresponds to the amount of energy in watt-hours.
The Donut Battery behaved in the test exactly as a battery should. If the test had been performed with a supercapacitor, the charge would have fallen linearly much faster during the same time period.
“Since we unveiled the Donut Battery, there has been a lot of speculation and theories about whether it is a supercapacitor. In all its simplicity, this test proves that it is a battery. Supercapacitors charge and discharge quickly, but they also lose their charge quickly when not in use. The Donut Battery behaves like a battery and can maintain a charge for significantly longer,” confirmed Ville Piippo, CTO, Donut Lab.
After the third test mentioned above, Donut Lab has carried out a special test to measure battery performance in a battery pack using the Verge TS Pro motorcycle that charges in less than ten minutes, making it the world's fastest-charging electric motorcycle.
 

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