Magna increases bet on battery swapping in India with $35M for Yuma | TechCrunch

Canadian auto parts giant Magna International announced a further investment of $35 million in Indian battery swapping company Yuma Energy. This investment will increase Magna’s shareholding in the joint venture with Yuma; previously, Magna had invested $77 million to support two Indian startups, Yulu and Yuma. Yuma is headquartered in Bangalore and currently operates over 400 battery swapping stations, with approximately 100,000 batteries in use, completing more than 60 million battery swaps. Magna stated that compared to fast-charging models, battery swapping can provide Indian delivery riders with shorter downtime and higher equipment utilization. Although Yuma has not yet turned a profit, some of its old stations have achieved positive EBITDA. This investment aims to utilize funds to further expand its battery fleet over the next 12 to 18 months, in order to capitalize on the potential of the Indian electric two-wheeled vehicle market and the economic needs of human delivery services.