AWS-Backed Hackathon Focuses on EV and Clean Mobility

Battery Smart has successfully concluded its inaugural HackSmart technology hackathon, organized in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), drawing over 1,000 registrations from engineering students across India, the company announced on Monday.

The hackathon began on January 31 and culminated in a 24-hour intensive build sprint, with participation from students of premier institutions including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other leading universities. Following an initial screening, over 200 participants were shortlisted for the final competition.

The event focused on solving real-world challenges in clean mobility, particularly in battery intelligence, electric vehicle operations, and cloud-scale infrastructure. Participants received continuous technical mentorship from engineers at Battery Smart and AWS throughout the hackathon.

Submissions were evaluated through live demonstrations by a jury comprising Battery Smart’s leadership and technology experts, after which five teams were declared winners.

Commenting on the initiative, Tejasav Khattar, Senior Vice President – Engineering, Data and Product at Battery Smart, said, “HackSmart reflects our commitment to advancing clean mobility while creating meaningful opportunities for India’s innovators. The quality of ideas and execution was outstanding and reinforces our focus on adopting AI and ML-driven approaches to address battery management and grid-readiness challenges.”

Winners received prizes including a PlayStation 5 for first place, a GoPro Hero 12 for second, and a Marshall speaker for third, along with cash prizes totaling up to ₹2 lakh. Selected participants were also offered pre-placement interview opportunities with Battery Smart.

The event concluded with networking sessions that enabled participants to interact with the company’s engineering and leadership teams.

Battery Smart operates India’s largest battery-swapping network for electric two- and three-wheelers, with over 1,600 swap stations across more than 50 cities. The company manages over 270,000 IoT-enabled batteries and has completed more than 100 million battery swaps since its founding in 2019 by IIT Kanpur alumni Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka.

Battery Smart said it plans to continue hosting similar initiatives to strengthen its cloud, data and artificial intelligence capabilities, while building a strong engineering talent pipeline.