Both EV charging and battery swapping are energy supplementary methods for electric vehicles, each with its own applicable fields and consumer groups. So, when EV charging vs battery swapping, which way is better?
Charging speed is an important evaluation index for an electric vehicle to improve user satisfaction. The charging speed here includes not only the entry and departure time but also the circulation time in the venue. Long-term vacation travel and highways have concentratedly magnified the contradiction between electric vehicles in actual use.
The battery swapping mode has certain advantages in reducing car purchase costs, eliminating mileage anxiety, and improving safety levels. However, it still faces problems such as technical standards, tax policies, and regulations on the construction and management of battery swap stations.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has launched a pilot work on the application of the battery swap model, involving 11 cities across the country. The goal of the first batch of pilot projects is to promote 100,000+ battery-swap vehicles and 1,000+ swap stations. The pilot content includes the battery-swap mode complete vehicle, power battery, and battery-swap equipment.
The idea of battery swapping isn't new. Tesla initially proposed the technology for its cars before settling on the Supercharger network. In Europe, Israeli company Better Place inked a deal with Renault in 2008 to use its swapping system in EVs, starting with the Fluence ZE saloon. Stations were built in Denmark and Israel, but the idea didn't take off, and in 2013 Better Place filed for bankruptcy.
Tesla indicated that they have always believed that the charging mode is the best way to replenish energy for large-scale civilian electric vehicles. Continuously increasing the layout of charging piles and improving charging efficiency at the same time is the best solution to users' anxiety about charging. With the rapid development of batteries, various types and brands of batteries are in different sizes and models, while the charging standard is the same, which will improve the efficiency of charging.
In the early stage of the promotion of new energy vehicles, the reason for choosing a battery swap is that it is efficient and can improve consumers' acceptance of new energy vehicles. However, in the mid-development stage, due to the high cost of battery replacement, few battery replacement vehicles, and few compatible models, coupled with imperfect standards and low corporate enthusiasm, the market has turned to choose and vigorously develop charging modes, and realize charging Large-scale development of pile construction and operation.
However, car companies have not stopped developing the battery swap model, but have been making progress in exploration, and some staunch supporters of the "battery swap model" have left. At this stage, the new energy vehicle market urgently needs to reduce the cost of the whole vehicle, increase the competitive advantage over traditional fuel vehicles, and reduce the purchasing pressure of consumers. Therefore, the business models such as bare car sales and battery leasing supported by the battery swap model are regarded as It is one of the important paths for the development of the new energy vehicle industry.
Both methods have great applications for different consumers. It wouldn't be crazy to think about a future where both technologies coexist, especially with EV battery swapping serving a more commercial customer base.
On the other hand, the average consumer will continue to enjoy the use of regular charging stations during their daily commute and occasionally use EV battery swapping during long road trips.
-- Marcus Groll，A Charging Station Owner in UKRAINE
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