RACE Energy

RACE Energy, legally known as Reddy Automotive Pvt. Ltd., is a deep-tech company focused on electric vehicle infrastructure, founded in Hyderabad, India, in 2018 by university friends Arun Sreyas and Gautham Maheswaran. The founders' journey is rooted in a shared passion for motorsports that began in their school days and continued at BITS Pilani, where they built and raced formula-style cars sponsored by companies like Honda. Sreyas, with a background in Mechanical Engineering, previously worked as a Design Engineer, while Maheswaran, a Chemical Engineering graduate, was a process engineer before they reunited to launch RACE Energy. This background in automotive engineering and motorsports heavily influences the company's approach to building robust technology for the EV market.

The company's core business revolves around providing battery-swapping solutions for electric two and three-wheelers, a significant market segment in India. RACE Energy's business model is designed to lower the barrier to EV adoption by removing the high upfront cost of the battery from the vehicle purchase. Instead, it offers energy as a service through a network of automated, modular battery swapping stations. Drivers can exchange their depleted batteries for fully charged ones in under two minutes, enabling them to operate for longer periods. Revenue is generated through fees for each swap and subscription models for frequent users. The company also offers retrofit kits to convert existing internal combustion engine (ICE) auto-rickshaws into electric vehicles, broadening its market reach.

RACE Energy's product is a comprehensive ecosystem that includes high-energy-density, swappable lithium-ion batteries, and a network of smart, cloud-connected swapping stations. The batteries feature a proprietary cooling system using phase change technology, which maintains optimal internal temperatures even in hot external conditions. The swapping stations are fully automated, not requiring a manual operator, and use smart algorithms to manage the charging process, predict swap demand, and optimize energy costs. The entire network is managed centrally, analyzing data on battery performance to ensure efficiency and safety. To finance its physical assets, the company introduced RACE Vault, a program allowing investors to purchase batteries and lease them back to the company for a guaranteed monthly return.

Keywords: battery swapping, electric vehicles, energy as a service, EV infrastructure, three-wheelers, deep-tech, mobility solutions, retrofit kits, cleantech, asset leasing