The Many Promises of Battery Swapping

Known for designing and developing electric vehicles, Chinese multinational automobile manufacturer, NIO, has established a formidable reputation with regard to battery swap stations. In July this year, the automobile giant opened 1,000 swap stations and reached 10 million battery swaps. As of August, NIO boasts of 1071 swap stations in China, however, it has no plans to stop anytime soon yet. It is now gearing up to expand its sales and swap station facilities across Europe.

In Norway, there are two swap stations in operation already. NIO is aiming to expand its footprint in Europe and claims that it will have 20 swap stations across the continent and in countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden by the end of this year. Though these swap stations remain to be seen as a novelty in Europe for the time being, they will serve as a complementary public charging solution alongside plug-in infrastructure.

NIO, which is looking to increase its growth prospects in overseas markets, is all set to introduce battery swapping technology in regions that have disregarded technology as too capital-intensive. However, IDTechEx, a consultancy that provides market research, business intelligence maintains that Europe will remain a charging dominant region with a focus on DC fast charging deployment. The number of swapping stations will remain small, it added. The new report released by the firm “Battery Swapping for Electric Vehicles 2022-2032: Technology, Players and Forecasts” sheds light on the analysis of the global adoption trends with respect to this technology outside of China.

Many Firsts to its Credit 

NIO is currently at the helm of affairs as it is trialing grid-balancing with the use of its swap station batteries (each station has 600-700 kWh of energy storage capacity at any given time) to establish that the firm’s infrastructure will not add to peak demand but instead keep it from rising. NIO has shared that the battery swapping stations have a one-of-a-kind feature that would pave the way in future for them to serve as grid-support units. This is because the battery swap stations adjusted the power load by a total of 8 MWh in five days, equivalent to saving the real-time electricity consumption of over 3,000 average residential households, as per the firm- all of this without affecting normal service to owners.

Among the many other benefits  that it offers, a major one is that swapping make it possible for users to stay in step with  battery chemistries that are forever evolving. In another noteworthy development, NIO is expected to get a small batch of 150 kWh semi-solid-state batteries from WeLion- a provider of solar energy products, in September and begin employing them in the fourth quarter.  Not just that, with their battery swapping network, users, currently using 75 and 100 kWh batteries, will be able to upgrade overnight. With this in view, the aforementioned report also speaks of the supply chain and energy storage capacities for various battery swapping players.

Smaller Batteries, Big Innovation 

Pack swap is the primary swapping mode in cars as of today. This entails swapping out the entire battery pack at once after it is close to depleting. Market leaders, NIO and Aulton, both based out of China, employ this kind of swapping across their swap station network. However, the ‘module swap’ is the newer approach that promises to be more efficient.

In module swap, the battery is parted into smaller, individual modules. These smaller modules are not only lighter but also easier to swap.

In the US, Ample- a new energy delivery solution for electric vehicles, has already come up with its own 2.5kWh battery modules. The firm puts small robots into use to execute individual module swaps. It has developed drop-in replacement battery trays (that it has termed ‘adapter plates’) for various EV models that can fit its battery modules. This seems to be answer to battery swapping being brand-specific.

While in the USA, Ample is the frontrunner in this kind of technology, in the UK, this approach has been embraced by batter major CATL’s subsidiary, EVOGO. The modular batteries by the company, called “Choco-SEB (swapping electric block)” will be a mass-produced battery specially developed for EV battery-sharing. As per the launch video, one Choco-Seb has the capacity of 26.5 kWh and a range of 200 km.

The Multipronged Benefits of Modular Swapping

Modular swapping has many benefits for the customer. To begin with, one can and should get (and pay for) as many modules as dictated by the requirements of the range as well as the driving scenarios. Presently, car owners predominantly tend to buy EVs with higher power capacity to steer clear of range anxiety. This is despite the fact that only 10 to 20% of the total capacity is mostly needed for everyday use.

Owners of electric vehicles generally pay a high sunk cost for a power capacity that is rarely ever required. Module swaps address this challenge by offering more flexibility to the end user, and their swapping infrastructure is relatively cheaper at the same time. The study, Battery Swapping for Electric Vehicles 2022-2032: Technology, Players and Forecasts propagates that module swaps will gain impetus in the period spanning the next ten years. The report also provides  insight about the players convinced of this approach.

What’s In Store For Battery Recharging

Electric cars with swappable battery have additional flexibility to offer: it can be recharged at a charging station or the battery swapped out at a battery swapping station. This explains why most swap stations having conventional cable-based conductive charging units are set up closely with each other.

However, swap stations are not all about convenience. ‘Replacement queuing’ is experienced at a swap station whenever demand piques. This may dull the convenience factor associated with swap stations.

Demand for swapping varies and stations in areas with higher densities of swap-capable EV owners may witness more demand when compared to those in remote locations. High power DC fast charging will continue to be the widely deployed fast top-up charging solution due to this.

As per another IDTechEx forecast, one can anticipate 350 times more charging outlets than swapping stations by 2032. The IDTechEx report “Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles and Fleets 2022-2032” provides a comprehensive overview of the high-power charging (HPC) solutions that will be seen along every swap station. Even though the two sets of solutions have their technical differences, they are both looking to achieve the same target- make EV charging into a faster, reliable, and seamless experience.