- Nio says it has performed more than 100 million battery changes since 2018
- The technology is acclaimed for its ease and speed.
- Slower on-site charging also reduces strain on the grid
The history of electric vehicle battery swapping technology is as long and complicated as the electric vehicle itself, with numerous manufacturers attempting to create networks that allow owners to drive up and insert a new battery in a matter of minutes.
Renault worked together with the Better Place network with its first Fluence ZE model in 2011 to push battery swapping technology, and even Tesla tried it and ultimately scrapped the idea due to lack of interest.
But Chinese manufacturer Nio has continued to push forward with battery swapping technology, claiming that during the recent May Day travel wave in China, its Power Swap business completed more than 1 million battery swaps in a single week, according to Inside EVs.
Nio’s all-electric subbrand Onvo currently operates 2,491 stations across China, but aims to have more than 3,300 by the end of the year. This is in addition to Nio’s 3,843 Power Swap stations.
Nio said that on its busiest day, May 1, the company changed 170,585 batteries across its network. On average, each site changes about 40 batteries per day, slowly recharging spent cells and replacing them in a different vehicle once they are fully charged.
From May 1 to May 5, Nio says it provided 15.4 gigawatt-hours of power, which it claims represented about 16.3% of all power delivered to electric vehicles in China during the same period, according to Inside EVs.
Analysis: a standardized system is needed
There are many benefits to battery swapping technology, the most obvious being speed. It takes about three minutes to change a battery, while even the fastest chargers on the planet take about ten minutes.
For most, the public EV charging experience lasts at least 20 minutes, if not 45 or more.
Another plus point is that spent battery cells are charged at a much slower rate on site, meaning there is much less demand on local networks than an entire bank of ultra-fast charging sockets delivering 1.5MW of power to several cars.
That said, battery swapping technology is also very expensive, requiring a huge investment by the manufacturer or supplier to not only build the sites, but also to ensure there are enough battery packs available to service an entire fleet.
That’s why Nio’s Power Swap technology is limited outside of China, with a handful of stations operating in Europe. Although the number is constantly increasing.
On top of this, there is a clear lack of standardization in the automotive battery industry, meaning that Nio’s battery swapping technology only works with Nio or its Onvo models.
However, the Chinese brand has been working with the country’s main battery supplier, CATL, to standardize and implement battery swapping technology that could open it up to rival manufacturers, such as Chery and Geely.
This is likely to make the design of Chinese cars even more homogeneous, as the vehicles will have to be built around battery swapping hardware, but it is a great way to make EV charging more convenient and reduce the cost of ownership of EVs.
In most cases, customers simply rent the battery pack (one of the most expensive parts of an electric vehicle) on a monthly basis, meaning manufacturers can reduce the sticker price and encourage budget-savvy consumers to make the switch.
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