Before Stanford, I spent time at SUN Mobility working on international expansion for EV battery-swapping infrastructure across emerging markets. It was my first deep experience with physical-world deployment, and it fundamentally changed how I think about building companies.
The promise
Battery swapping is elegant in theory. Instead of waiting 30 minutes to charge, you swap your depleted battery for a fully charged one in under a minute. The infrastructure is modular. The economics should work at scale.
The reality
In practice, everything is harder than it looks:
Supply chains break. The components you need aren't always available where you need them. Shipping batteries across borders involves customs, regulations, and paperwork that can delay projects by months.
Regulations vary wildly. Every country — and often every city — has different rules about where you can install infrastructure, what certifications you need, and how electricity pricing works.
Customer behavior is unpredictable. Fleet operators have different needs, different routes, and different expectations. What works for auto-rickshaws in India doesn't translate directly to motorcycles in Southeast Asia.
Physical deployment is unforgiving. A software bug can be patched remotely. A physical installation that's in the wrong location, with the wrong specifications, or with the wrong components requires people on the ground to fix.
What I learned
The biggest lesson was humility about physical-world complexity. Every assumption you make in a spreadsheet breaks when it hits the ground. The companies that succeed in physical infrastructure are the ones that build operational muscle — the ability to execute, adapt, and improve in messy, unpredictable conditions.
This experience is a big part of why I'm drawn to robotics. The deployment challenges are similar, and the companies that solve them will build enormous value.
Notes from the field.