Battery Subscription Facility

The Battery Subscription Facility is a financial instrument designed to accelerate the adoption of electric buses in India by reducing high upfront costs through a battery-as-a-service model. By owning the batteries and leasing them to operators, the Facility aims to lower initial costs by 40-50% and reduce the total cost of ownership compared to diesel or CNG alternatives.

• The Battery Subscription Facility addresses barriers to electric bus adoption in India by purchasing and owning the batteries, which reduces the upfront cost for bus owners by 40-50%. The Facility provides batteries on a subscription basis using daily or per kilometer rates and manages battery performance to mitigate perceived technology risks.
• The Facility is structured as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that enters into a tripartite agreement with bus operators and a local finance institution (LFI). Because batteries are not viewed as standalone income-generating assets, the LFI must finance both the electric bus and the battery contracts simultaneously.
• A pilot project involving 30 buses for a corporate client in New Delhi is projected to be 13% cheaper over a 10-year lifetime than the CNG buses they replace, resulting in US$ 5.2 million in savings.
• In its intermediate phase, the Facility aims to finance approximately 1,000 buses for corporate clients, representing about 4% of annual corporate bus sales in India. This phase is expected to avoid 250,000 tons of carbon emissions over 10 years and reduce the total cost of ownership to 16% cheaper than diesel buses. The Facility targets a scale of up to 10,000 electric buses within 3-5 years.
• The transport sector in India contributes 13% of energy-related carbon emissions and more than 40% of total particulate matter emissions in cities. Large-scale electric bus deployment is necessary for India to reach its Nationally Determined Contribution target of 33-35% decarbonization by 2030 under the Paris Agreement.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2018). Battery Subscription Facility. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Battery-Subscription-Facility_Instrument-Overview.pdf

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Battery Subscription Facility. 2018. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Battery-Subscription-Facility_Instrument-Overview.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Battery Subscription Facility |date=2018 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Battery-Subscription-Facility_Instrument-Overview.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2018battery, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Battery Subscription Facility}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Battery-Subscription-Facility_Instrument-Overview.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }