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> Some battery developers are also opposed to standardizing power packs anytime soon because the technology is evolving rapidly and India could switch to the mo

> Some battery developers are also opposed to standardizing power packs anytime soon because the technology is evolving rapidly and India could switch to the more efficient and environmentally friendly sodium-ion batteries from the lithium-ion ones favored by e-rickshaw makers. I do not think that is true. This is what all of them say whenever standardisation comes into the argument. However obviously they use that to lock the customers in.

myself248 5y ago
That makes no sense. With new battery tech, it's typically the chargers that absorb the complexity, the load is just a load. So the scooters should be able to handle the new batteries just fine, and it would be on the network operator to upgrade the charging kiosks accordingly. It'd be much easier to rolling-upgrade batteries in a swappable fleet than to call fixed-battery scooters into the shop and swap each one out, as well.
- L_Rahman 5y ago
  As the parent says, arguments like these are always a scheme to lock customers into proprietary standards. It's frustrating that companies still think they can get away with this.
- manquer 5y ago
  Standardization is not in chemistry or the tech itself. It is in voltage/amps and the physical dimensions we already do this with AA and AAA batteries.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
  > the load is just a load You will need a standard communication protocol for storing charge/discharge history with the battery and reporting temperature. Nobody wants to swap in a battery that is exhausted and won't maintain a charge. Vendors maintaining swap pools need to know when to cull old packs.
manquer 5y ago
That is where the government/standards bodies are important. It is in everyone's collective benefit to standardize as the whole market will expand. As quoted in the article this piece is what the finance minister highlighted in her budget speech last month as being important to get in place.

myself248 5y ago

That makes no sense. With new battery tech, it's typically the chargers that absorb the complexity, the load is just a load. So the scooters should be able to handle the new batteries just fine, and it would be on the network operator to upgrade the charging kiosks accordingly. It'd be much easier to rolling-upgrade batteries in a swappable fleet than to call fixed-battery scooters into the shop and swap each one out, as well.

L_Rahman 5y ago
As the parent says, arguments like these are always a scheme to lock customers into proprietary standards. It's frustrating that companies still think they can get away with this.
manquer 5y ago
Standardization is not in chemistry or the tech itself. It is in voltage/amps and the physical dimensions we already do this with AA and AAA batteries.
kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
> the load is just a load You will need a standard communication protocol for storing charge/discharge history with the battery and reporting temperature. Nobody wants to swap in a battery that is exhausted and won't maintain a charge. Vendors maintaining swap pools need to know when to cull old packs.

manquer 5y ago

That is where the government/standards bodies are important. It is in everyone's collective benefit to standardize as the whole market will expand. As quoted in the article this piece is what the finance minister highlighted in her budget speech last month as being important to get in place.