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
    3•12 days ago

    You pay a monthly fee (lease) that contains a certain number of swaps per month, above which you pay extra. The car is also cheaper this way, as you are not paying the full price of the the battery up front

          • @[email protected]English
            0•11 days ago

            I don’t see anywhere that you can’t also just buy a battery and charge it yourself if you’d prefer that over a subscription.

            • umami_wasabiEnglish
              0•11 days ago

              Which the manufacture will either set a high price or simply not offer it. We had this in software (Adobe), and movies/TV shows (Netflix). Companies prefer continuous steady streams of revenue over burst because the numbers will look better for the investors, and easy to show them the solid future of the company.

              I won’t be in the “Owns nothing and be happy” camp. Or honestly, rarely have things I do not own.

        • umami_wasabiEnglish
          2•11 days ago

          But for gas you don’t need to worry ownership problem as you can’t reuse gas. Once it is burnt, it’s gone.

          Batteries are different because you can recharge it, which brings ownership problem into sight. And unlike gas tank for your grill, which the port is somewhat universal and shape doesn’t matter too much. Car batteries have wear level that affects performamce (range) and are likely designed to fit a car/platform. It isn’t that interchangeable.