The charging times of electric vehicles and the possible limitations that they necessarily impose in scenarios such as long-distance trips, continue to be one of the factors that generate the most uncertainty and doubts in those who consider making the leap to the vehicle. electric. But what if there was a proven and effective technology to have a fully charged battery in a few minutes?
The swap of batteries is getting closer to Europe, proposing a solution to end the fear of running out of battery in your electric car.
The Shanghai company NIO has set out to install A network of swapquick battery swap, in Europe. And their experience in China supports them. And as we will see below, we are not dealing with a science fiction technology, but with a proposal for the use of the electric vehicle and a satisfactory business model.
The battery “swap” stations allow to automatically change the battery of a car, for another fully charged one, the replacement time in the NIO stations is less than 5 minutes
What does the swap of batteries?
The swap or, rather, the exchange of electric car batteries It is based on the use of stations that incorporate an automated system to extract the battery from a car and replace it with a complete battery. To achieve this, it requires vehicles that have been designed to be able to extract and exchange their battery packs quickly, with an automated system and, of course, stations that are capable of carrying out this operation safely and in a reasonable time.
NIO refers to its strategy as Battery as a Service, or battery as a service. The owner of the vehicle does not have ownership of the battery, but a subscription to use it. And at any time he can access a battery swap recharge to replace his car’s battery with a fully charged one. The time it takes to change a battery at a charging station swapfor another fully charged, is less than 5 minutes.
Your network of swap The battery exchange in China already has 1,011 battery exchange stations and has carried out nearly 10 million operations. NIO has set out to install more than 4,000 battery exchange stations around the world and that is intended to be one of its main attractions to speed up its implementation in Europe.
NIO has already carried out nearly 10 million battery changes in China, where it has 1,011 “swap” stations, which will also arrive in Europe – and will be produced in Europe – to reach 4,000 stations worldwide
The network of swap of NIO batteries in Europe
In September, NIO is scheduled to start production at its first factory outside of China, which will be in Europe, near Pest – yes, the eastern part of Budapest – in Hungary (Europe Autonews). The new NIO factory in Europe will be responsible, above all, for the development and production of power systems, including battery exchange stations to be installed in Europe.
seasons of swap of batteries produced in Europe, for Europe. And not only that. NIO has already established agreements with the petroleum products company Shell to install its battery exchange stations and, in turn, make the fast charger network of Shell service stations available to NIO customers.
In the past, companies like Better Place and Renault, with their agreement in 2007, tried to propose battery exchange stations in Israel and Denmark, in a project that ultimately failed. Did they anticipate a technology that was too advanced for the state of implementation of the electric vehicle? Will NIO make its marketing strategy swap of batteries and batteries as a service succeed in Europe?
