SUN Mobility, an energy infrastructure and battery swapping solutions provider for electric vehicles jointly founded by SUN Group and the Maini Group, has raised $135 million in the last one year to fund its expansion activities, said the firm on Tuesday.
Helios Climate, Africa’s climate-focused investment platform, in partnership with the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), made an undisclosed investment in SUN Mobility, on Tuesday.
SUN Mobility’s other investors include IOCL, Vitol (parent of Vivo Energy, Africa’s largest fuel retailer), and Bosch.
This capital infusion would drive the company’s plans to set up the largest battery swapping network in Africa and also to fuel SUN Mobility’s domestic growth.
Chetan Maini, co-Founder and chairman, SUN Mobility said: “We’ve built a modular, fast, and scalable battery swapping ecosystem that adapts to real-world mobility needs. With over 1.4 million monthly swaps in India and growing global interest, we’re excited to extend our proven model to emerging markets like Africa.’‘
The region’s (Africa) rapid urbanisation, reliance on two and three-wheelers, and need for robust HEV solutions position it perfectly to leapfrog into clean mobility, he added.
Through this investment, SUN Mobility would support the growth of the e-mobility supply chain in Africa and South-East Asia (batteries and quick interchange stations) and was expected to facilitate the avoidance of emissions while reducing air pollution through EV adoption, the firm said.
According to SUN Mobility, its platform decouples battery ownership from the vehicle, significantly reducing upfront EV costs and enhancing affordability. Its solutions address critical pain points for fleet operators and governments seeking to avoid emissions and reduce air pollution at scale, it claimed.
SUN Mobility operates over 900 battery swapping stations and powers a fleet of over 50,000 vehicles.