this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2025
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Electric Vehicles
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Anyone still remembers the "battery swapping" trend? Nio claims that they can change the battery pack in about three minutes.
Compared with 2020 levels of fast charging, this was extremely fast. But with charging in ~10 minutes, a full battery swap doesn't sound really useful anymore.
I feel like there’s still a use-case for swapping. I’m not an expert but I imagine superfast charging like this can be taxing to the battery and will shorten its life faster. The idea of getting a fresh, fully charged battery at a charging station without having to plug in sounds convenient too.
i believe the only problem with fast charging is when the battery gets too hot. if there’s adequate cooling, i think it doesn’t matter how fast you charge the battery
There will be some use cases of course, but the price is too high for most. Currently, the price is 169€/month for the battery rent alone, additional "swaps" cost extra.
At this price point, it doesn't seem economical for me.
Even besides this aspect, it's an idea that borders on fantasy because it would require every vehicle to have the same size and shape of pack (or perhaps a few different variations) which would require every manufacturer to agree to the standard and build all their vehicles around it.
Furthermore, it would also require a ton of labor to be swapping millions of packs every day with no end in sight. This also introduces a ton of liability because what happens when people fuck up and a car bursts into flames or the pack falls out on the highway, which even if rare, will be happening frequently with volumes this high especially in a job that probably would be considered low skill and low pay (like a fuel attendant job).
It's fully automated. The swapping and moving batteries to charge is done without humans involved. Even the car driving into the swapping bay is automatic these days.
Isn't NIO already operating a huge battery swapping network?
Yes, they are the primary drivers of this "lease your battery"