Yuma Energy Revolutionizes Electric Mobility with Battery-as-a-Service Network

"It's as simple as refueling at a petrol pump." That's how Muthu Subramanian, Managing Director at Yuma Energy, explains the revolutionary concept of Battery-as-a-Service that's transforming electric mobility in India. Instead of waiting hours for your electric scooter to charge, you simply swap your depleted battery for a fully charged one in under a minute and continue your journey.

With 40 million battery swaps already completed and a network spanning 17 cities, Yuma Energy is proving that battery swapping isn't just a convenient alternative—it's the future of urban electric mobility. Subramanian, who brings 20+ years of automotive experience from Detroit's Magna International, is leading this transformation from the frontlines.

This isn't just about charging infrastructure—it's about reimagining how India powers its electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, making sustainable mobility accessible and affordable for millions.

From Detroit to Bangalore: An Automotive Veteran's Journey

Before leading Yuma Energy's charge into India's electric mobility revolution, Subramanian spent two decades in the heart of the global automotive industry—Detroit, Michigan. As a mechanical engineer by training, he worked with Magna International, one of the world's leading mobility technology companies supplying products to OEMs globally.

"My background is I'm a mechanical engineer by training. I spent 20 plus years in the automotive industry almost all of it in the US in Detroit where the genesis of automotive industry is," Subramanian shares. This deep automotive expertise would prove invaluable when Yuma Energy was formed as a joint venture between Magna and Yulu.

The opportunity to return to India and build something from ground up was irresistible. "I had the opportunity to move to India, back to my home if you want to call that, and help build Yuma Energy into one of the leading players offering battery as a service in India for two wheelers and three wheelers," he explains.

Understanding Battery-as-a-Service: The SIM Card Analogy

For many Indians, battery swapping remains an unfamiliar concept. Subramanian explains it brilliantly: "It's as simple as refueling at a petrol pump. Instead of putting petrol, you're just getting a new battery."

But his technical analogy is even more insightful: "In terms of technical analogy, it's like a SIM card in a cell phone. You have different bikes, right? And as long as you have our battery in it, you can just come and exchange the battery and move on."

This standardization is the key to making battery swapping work at scale. Just as SIM cards can be moved between different phones, Yuma Energy's batteries are designed to work across multiple vehicle models from different manufacturers.

The Economics: Why Battery Swapping Makes Financial Sense

India is notoriously cost-sensitive, and Subramanian acknowledges that battery swapping carries a premium in terms of energy cost per kilometer. However, he explains why the overall economics work out favorably.

"In swapping, we take the cost of the battery out of the purchase price of the vehicle," he clarifies. "So if you compare the cost of energy while you're charging versus swapping, it won't be the right way of doing it."

The real comparison should look at total cost of ownership. With fixed batteries, after 4-5 years, you must replace the battery at significant cost. "In this case, you don't have to worry about the life of the battery, you don't have to ever worry about replacing the battery or quality of the battery—you just pay as you go," Subramanian explains.

The Network Effect: 400 Locations and Counting

Yuma Energy currently operates in four major markets—Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi NCR—with approximately 400 locations where users can swap batteries. The density of this network is crucial for adoption.

"We have about 400 locations where the users can go and get their battery swapped," Subramanian states. In Bangalore alone, they have 100+ locations covering 70-80% of the metro area, with stations located approximately 2 km apart on average.

This dense network enables a key advantage: smaller, lighter batteries. Instead of carrying massive 3.5 kWh batteries for 120-150 km range, Yuma Energy uses 2 kWh packs because swapping stations are readily available.

This reduction in battery weight directly translates to improved vehicle efficiency. "You're saving the dead weight of the vehicle, which adds to the efficiency of the vehicle. Weight means less range, so with swapping and having a lower capacity battery, you're definitely increasing the efficiency of the vehicle," Subramanian explains.

Partnerships and OEM Collaboration

Battery swapping only works if vehicle manufacturers design their products to accommodate swappable batteries. Yuma Energy has been actively working with multiple OEMs to integrate their battery packs into different vehicles.

"We have been working with multiple OEMs. What is public is our partnership with Kinetic Green that we have announced earlier this year," Subramanian reveals. "From then, we have been working on integrating our battery pack onto their vehicles, and they have been through homologation. Now certification is there, and now we are about to launch those vehicles in the market."

This collaboration approach gives users wider options. "Some people prefer one type of vehicle, the other folks prefer other type of vehicle," Subramanian notes. "By having multiple types of vehicles using our products, we are able to offer and cater to a wider range of users."

Scaling Challenges: Infrastructure and Speed

Building a nationwide battery swapping network from scratch presented significant operational challenges. "Setting up an infrastructure takes time—finding the right location, getting power to the location, getting all the right documents in place," Subramanian admits.

However, Yuma Energy has learned and matured in this space, becoming much faster at station deployment. They've also formed strategic partnerships with public utilities like HPCL and municipal corporations like MCD in Delhi to leverage existing infrastructure.

"We believed in swapping as a solution that is going to scale. Hence, we were able to make all the right bets to be able to grow fast to cater to the demand that we were expecting to come in the future," Subramanian explains.

Their strategy was clear: build the network before demand materializes. "We built the networks rather than waiting for the demand, so that helped scale the business or grow the number of swaps we do on a month-on-month basis rapidly from where we started."

Government Policy and Support Landscape

The Indian government has been progressively supportive of electric mobility through various initiatives like FAME subsidies and the PM e-DRIVE scheme. However, Subramanian identifies specific policy gaps that could accelerate battery swapping adoption.

"One gap that could help us is that in the case of fixed charging, the subsidy includes the EVSEs—the electric vehicle supply equipment, which you plug in at the charging stations. Unfortunately, for battery swapping, it's only some portion of the infra we can avail the subsidies. The actual battery swapping unit is not part of the subsidy."

The GST disparity is another significant challenge. "When you buy an electric vehicle with a fixed pack, you're paying 5% GST. But when you're buying a battery separately outside of the vehicle to offer it as part of the battery swapping network, there is an 18% GST on that," Subramanian points out.

Beyond Two-Wheelers: The Future of Battery Swapping

While Yuma Energy currently focuses on two and three-wheelers, questions naturally arise about expanding to cars. Subramanian acknowledges that while technically feasible, car battery swapping faces practical challenges in India.

"Technically, it's feasible. There are companies outside of India who are actually swapping batteries for cars also," he notes. "In markets like China and Europe, they're doing it at scale."

However, for India, the economics and practical implementation present challenges. "You're talking about 30 kWh packs that you have to hold, X number of packs extra outside of the vehicle," Subramanian explains. "And also, typical kilometers driven per day may not necessarily drive the need for swapping in India."

Expansion Beyond Tier 1 Cities

Yuma Energy has already expanded beyond major metros to 17 cities including tier 2 cities like Indore, Kochi, Madurai, and Chandigarh. Their approach focuses on geographical clusters rather than city classifications.

"Rather than looking at it as a city, we are approaching it as a cluster—a typical cluster for us is 5 to 10 square kilometers," Subramanian explains. "As long as we can cater to users in that geographical area, it doesn't matter if it's a tier 1, tier 2, or tier 3 city."

Subramanian believes the business model works across market segments. "It's just a matter of how many users you have and what is the use case for those users," he says. "As long as we keep solving for those problems—affordability, range anxiety, battery quality, resale value—it doesn't which market you are present. I think there will be users who are going to accept swapping as the right solution."

The Coexistence Future: Swapping and Charging Together

Despite the rapid advancement of fast charging technology, Subramanian doesn't see it as a threat to battery swapping. Instead, he envisions a future where both solutions coexist, serving different use cases.

"The way I see it, these will coexist, right? Swapping and fixed charging, they will coexist," he predicts. "There will be swapping will be ideal for certain use cases, fixed charging will be ideal for certain use cases."

The key advantage swapping maintains is energy density. "We can serve close to 100 customers in one location with a certain amount of power installed. If you have to serve the same amount of customers with fixed charging or fast charging, you need a lot more power per square foot," Subramanian explains.

Key Takeaways

Muthu Subramanian's vision for Yuma Energy offers crucial insights into the future of electric mobility in India:

For EV Buyers: Battery-as-a-Service offers 30-40% upfront savings with long-term cost parity. The swapping model eliminates range anxiety and battery replacement concerns while improving vehicle efficiency through lighter batteries.

For Entrepreneurs: Yuma's conviction-based approach—building networks ahead of demand—demonstrates how infrastructure businesses can scale rapidly when founders truly understand their market.

For Policy Makers: Addressing GST disparities and extending equipment subsidies to battery swapping units could accelerate India's electric mobility transition significantly.

For the Industry: Battery swapping solves fundamental problems that fixed charging cannot—affordability, range anxiety, battery quality ownership, and resale value. This ensures both solutions will coexist serving different market segments.

For India: As Yuma Energy expands to 17 cities and completes 40 million swaps, battery swapping is proving to be a crucial piece of India's electric mobility puzzle, particularly for the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments that dominate Indian transportation.

With the backing of Magna International's automotive expertise and Yulu's last-mile mobility understanding, Yuma Energy is positioned to lead India's battery swapping revolution. As Subramanian's journey from Detroit to Bangalore demonstrates, sometimes the most transformative innovations come from applying deep industry expertise to solving local problems.

About the Guest

Muthu Subramanian is the Managing Director at Yuma Energy, a joint venture between Magna International and Yulu that's building India's largest battery swapping network for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers. With 20+ years of automotive industry experience in Detroit, Michigan, primarily with Magna International, Subramanian brings deep expertise in mobility technology and manufacturing to India's electric mobility revolution.

Under his leadership since July 2023, Yuma Energy has scaled dramatically from a few million swaps annually to completing 40+ million battery swaps across 2,000+ stations in 17 cities. The company's Battery-as-a-Service model is transforming electric mobility economics by reducing vehicle upfront costs by 30-40% while eliminating range anxiety and battery ownership concerns.

Subramanian's automotive background includes working with one of the world's leading mobility technology companies, giving him unique insights into vehicle manufacturing, supply chains, and global mobility trends. He's now applying this expertise to build India's battery swapping infrastructure, working closely with OEMs like Kinetic Green to integrate swappable batteries into mainstream electric vehicles.

A mechanical engineer by training, Subramanian represents a new generation of leaders who combine deep global industry experience with local market understanding to build transformative solutions for India's mobility challenges. His vision for Yuma Energy extends beyond just battery swapping to reimagining how India powers its electric transportation future.