BPCL enters EV space in partnership with Kinetic and IIT-Madras

CHENNAI: State-owned oil refiner BPCL on Monday said it has forayed into electric vehicles space in partnership with Kinetic Green energy. BPCL will use its vast network of nearly 12,000 fuel stations to offer fully charged automotive batteries for e-vehicles on a swappable basis.
In this model, to begin with, the three-wheelers would be owned by Kinetic Green while BPCL will provide lithium-ion batteries under support from IIT-Madras.
Three-wheelers would be sold without batteries by Kinetic (to begin with in Lucknow and Kochi). “The three-wheeler (autorickshaw) cost without batteries will be Rs 1.3 lakh as against a CNG-powered one which costs Rs 2.2 lakh. It will be lower than internal combustion engine vehicles. The cost per KM of a diesel delivery rickshaw is Rs 3.5 per KM while that of battery-operated will be just 50 paise,” said Sulaja Forodia Motwani, CEO, Kinetic Green Energy.