Meghana KandraChina’s Geely is working on setting up 5,000 battery swapping stations all over the world by 2025. It is only of the major EV makers in China for affordable EV cars. As the company continues to grow globally they plan to have more battery swapping stations.
Image credits- InsideEVs
Battery swapping station initially started in Chinese EV makers, continues to be popular. Especially as the vehicle cost decreases up to a large extent. These battery swapping stations take only a few seconds to swap batteries. Which also reduces the charging time for the customer. It makes it similar to fuel-powered vehicles going to fill its fuel. But with EVs, the vehicles have much larger ranges and are much efficient.
Meanwhile, Geely’s competitor Nio plans to have 4,000 battery swapping stations globally by 2025. The EV structure in China is going in its unique way with some companies opting for battery swapping technology, while others opt for traditional batteries. The company has an app, which can easily locate the nearest battery swapping station. It also shows the available battery packs in the location, so that the customer can choose depending on their availability and time.
Know more about battery swapping technology
It seems like a complex technology where the stations are automated and need to be operated continuously. However, technology is growing on people. One of the biggest challenges for opting for an EV is the charging time. People being accustomed to filling their vehicle fuel tanks, it wouldn’t be surprising to observe that EVs might not be everybody’s favorite, yet.
Furthermore, another advantage is the cost of the vehicle. Usually, the battery cost almost amounts to half price of the complete vehicle. These Chinese companies opt for battery swapping technology. It doesn’t need customers to pay for batteries, just for the charging charges the customer will be paying. In a way, this is very practical technology, unless some company comes up with a charging option at a much faster rate.
Even Tesla Superchargers are not being suggested to be used at a Super fast pace every time the vehicle is being charged. Elon Musk himself agreed that it could possibly reduce the efficiency of the vehicle. Though the efficiency is only at a negligible rate and customers tend to opt for fast charging almost always. The battery swapping technology seems to be getting somewhere, especially considering the cost reduction. These swapping stations are automated and can be easily used by any customer as long as there is no waiting line.