Battery swapping is a technology that could solve one key barrier for EV adoption: consumers’ range anxiety and the long waiting time for battery charging. Wouldn’t you feel more assured on a weekend trip if you knew you could stop at a swap station and replace depleted battery packs with fully charged ones in five minutes? But this isn’t easy to do, as Tesla and Better Place’s past failures. In China, however, battery swapping has been a reality for a couple of years. How did Chinese companies like Nio make it work with 2,300 swapping stations nationwide? What can companies outside China learn from the Chinese experience?

See, Apple? Even cars can do it :)

  • @[email protected]English
    28•12 days ago

    The company (NIO) owns them and you are leasing the batteries. The car is cheaper this way, as you don’t buy the battery up front, but pay a monthly fee (~200+ in Germany).

    You have a fixed number of swaps per month, above that you have to pay extra.

    Source: colleague uses a car like this and explained the details.

    • umami_wasabiEnglish
      2•12 days ago

      What if they EOL the battery and stops the leasing program? Now the perfectly fine car is non functional because it’s missing a battery. If I replace it, I’m just contributing more waste, not in materal but energy. Is that the “green” future we all after?

      • MaggiWuerzeEnglish
        16•12 days ago

        I’d assume you could still charge them the regular way. You’d just no longer get a fresh one, but that just puts you on par with the other EVs

        • umami_wasabiEnglish
          11•12 days ago

          The ownership is still questionable. Even if that’s the case, you’re stuck with the battery you last swapped in, which you don’t know the wear level or how long it will last.