Sharing is trendy and why shouldn’t you also use exchangeable batteries together? The problem of long charging times and scarce charging stations could possibly be solved with the replacement batteries. Last year, China’s government included battery swap stations in its “New Infrastructure Plan”. Almost all Chinese carmakers are in the process of aligning their electric cars with it. One of the pioneers is the start-up Nio, which has already changed around 800,000 batteries between May 2018 and the end of August 2020. Now the company is bringing the technology to Europe.
How does the quick battery change work?
At a suitably equipped station, changing the battery takes no longer than refueling a petrol or diesel. Simply drive over a ramp to the changing station, which looks like a car wash. The gas station attendant of the future, who monitors the automated change, stands in a control room. In a few minutes, robots unscrew the old battery from below and insert a new energy storage device for the next 400, 500 or more kilometers – no ultra-fast charger can keep up with this speed.
When will the first exchange station come to Europe?
In 2017, the Chinese car manufacturer Nio presented its ES8 SUV together with a battery change station. In China, Nio already operates more than 500 stations, which is driving up the costs for the start-up rapidly – and almost led to bankruptcy last year. By 2025, Nio plans to have 4,000 exchange stations worldwide, 1,000 of them outside of China. The first Nio exchange station in Oslo goes into operation at the beginning of November. Then the three models ES8, ES6 and EC6 will also be offered in the Scandinavian model state for electromobility.
What does “Battery as a service” mean?
If you rent the 70 kWh battery in a Nio model for 125 euros a month, you can save up to 10,000 euros on the purchase of the car – and use the changing stations. In addition, he doesn’t have to worry about aging or updates to the electricity storage system because he always has access to the latest battery hardware – that’s the promise.
Hasn’t the idea existed before?
In 2007 the former SAP manager Shai Agassi founded the company “Better Place”. A comprehensive system of battery changing stations was supposed to solve the then much more pressing range problem of electric cars – fast chargers were still a foreign concept. In 2014, Better Place went bankrupt. According to the data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), only 12 156 pure electric cars were registered among the 44 million cars on Germany’s roads. “A system of battery changing stations had to starve to death with this small number of customers,” says Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the CAR Center Automotive Research in Duisburg.
A supply of replacement batteries is stored in the station. The first will go into operation in Norway in November.
(Photo: Nio)
Is super fast charging the better alternative?
The charging times for electric cars are becoming shorter. The high charging voltage of 800 volts, which Audi, Hyundai / Kia and Porsche are already using, enable fast charging processes in less than 20 minutes (ten to 80 percent state of charge). It is foreseeable that the new voltage level in the on-board network will prevail among other manufacturers. Battery technology is also making progress, solid-state batteries promise a 50 percent higher energy density.
Why is the idea of changing stations coming back now?
Even if the Federal Ministry of Transport wants to build at least 1,000 new fast chargers with an output of 150 kW: the more powerful and energy-hungry electric vehicles that are on the road, the more difficult it is to buffer demand peaks. Last but not least, this applies to company car drivers who want to take the freeway as quickly as possible – and then wait for a free quick-charge point at the umpteenth place. In a few years, it can be a valuable unique selling proposition not only to be able to charge the batteries, but also to be able to change them if necessary.
Is a standard battery necessary for the exchange stations?
Ferdinand Dudenhöffer is convinced that “battery cell development is progressing with great leaps in innovation, which is why cells from 2020 will no longer be identical to cells from 2025”. An exchange station infrastructure, however, needs a high level of standardization, the space and capital requirements can only be kept within limits with a “standard battery”: “Keeping a large variety of different battery types in stock destroys the economy of a battery exchange station system”, so Dudenhöffer.
Is a network of exchange stations affordable at all?
A functioning exchange system needs significantly more batteries than vehicles, after all, the batteries are not available for exchange while charging. But the power storage is by far the most expensive part of an electric car. The problem is exacerbated when customers can swap their old batteries for state-of-the-art hardware. In return, new vehicles must be prevented from receiving worn out batteries. Keeping stocks of different battery types is correspondingly complicated – and correspondingly expensive. How the system should work across manufacturers is unclear: The advantages and disadvantages of the battery and range are an important distinguishing feature between brands and models.