Top Battery Swapping Companies
Battery swapping technology is a viable alternative for supplying power to vehicles, as it eliminates the need for slow-charging stations. Battery-swapping has grown popular because it quickly provides electric vehicle owners with more efficient and convenient charging solutions.
The introduction of swappable batteries allows the driver to replace the discharged battery with a charged one at a swapping center. This decreases the EV’s downtime substantially while also reducing the operational costs, which will ultimately take the EV industry, toward profitability.
The estimated global market valuation of EV battery swapping technology will reach around US $16.1 Billion by the end of 2030. The reports also suggest a whopping 40.3% CAGR for the EV battery-swapping market between 2023 and 2030. here are some top battery-swapping companies around the world.
The global battery swapping market is dominated by players such as NIO Power (China), Gogoro (Taiwan), Aulton (China), Sun Mobility (India), and Oyika Pte Ltd (Singapore). These companies are working on strategic partnerships, collaborations, new product development, and mergers to enhance their portfolios while strengthening their market position.
Nio Power
Nio is among the few companies betting on battery-swapping as one of the major power solutions for EVs. Nio has been building a network of battery-swapping stations since 2018. It currently has established more than 1,300 stations in China.
The Nio swap station has a straight platform. When an EV is parked in front of the Nio swapping station, the EV automatically is taken inside through the platform, and its battery is replaced. Automatic mechanisms unbolt the battery pack and exchange it for a new one. The entire process takes about 3 minutes. Automatic battery and electric system checks are also performed during each swap to keep the vehicle as well as the battery in an efficient condition.
Aulton New Energy
Aulton New Energy was established in 2016 and mainly engages in power battery-swapping services, battery life cycle management, and the commercial operations of battery-swapping stations. It began research and has been exploring battery-swapping technology since the year 2000.
The company is aiming to have 10,000 battery-swapping stations in 100 Chinese cities by 2025 capable of serving 10 million EVs.
Aulton claims to have the world’s fastest battery-swapping process at just 20 seconds for a few EV models. It uses three core technologies: flexible battery-swapping bay, a smart recognition system, and battery pack storage management for a fast swapping process.
It is focused on serving multiple OEMs and models with a focus on taxi or ride-sharing fleets and not private owners.
In terms of safety, the swapping stations have an optical fiber multi-point temperature measurement and an intelligent monitoring system of batteries for lifecycle management. The stations are user-friendly and offer convenient and simple smart payment for their users.
Sun Mobility
Sun Mobility provides battery-swapping services in India. Their Quick Interchange Stations (QIS) are a collection of stations where the depleted batteries are swapped with charged ones. Their technology is designed to serve electric 2 & 3-wheelers as well as buses and micro trucks.
The QIS for 2 and 3-wheelers can support more than 200 smart battery swaps per day. Each battery can be swapped in under 2 minutes so that there is a decrease in downtime and the users don’t have to wait 4 to 8 hours for their batteries to charge. RFID-enabled key fobs are used for authentication and digital payments for the energy consumed.
The QIS for buses can support multiple bus formats, with the capacity to perform more than 300 swaps per day. Each battery can be swapped in less than 3 minutes.
Sun Mobility’s Liquid conditioning is designed to ensure temperature regulation of the battery packs while charging. The battery features an Intelligent Battery Management System to monitor battery vitals and optimize performance for the longevity of battery life and safety. The battery packs have a tamperproof exterior with an electro-mechanical lock, over 30 sensors, and GPS tracking to maintain security against battery theft or misuse.
Gogoro
The Gogoro Battery-Swapping Network consists of a collection of stations called the GoStations. It is a modular battery-swapping infrastructure designed for electric refueling of 2-wheelers like scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles. The riders can swap depleted batteries with charged ones. The batteries are compatible with only Gogoro scooters.
The battery-swapping network is currently rolled out in Taiwan and the company has long-term plans to expand the system globally.
The battery-swapping stations are accessible 24 hours all week long in places like gas stations and convenience stores. The system touchscreen provides information about users’ energy use and also displays notifications about their electric vehicles. The company estimates that users can swap their batteries in about 6 seconds.
The battery pack offers integrated protection and monitoring via the Cloud system covering authentication, security, safety of the charging process as well as monitoring of faulty events.
Oyika Pte Ltd
Oyika was incorporated in Singapore in 2012 and is offering Battery as a Service (BaaS) to all its users. It is a leased battery that is available with an option for battery-swapping. A rider can swap the depleted battery with a fully charged one at a nearby Oyika swap station. The swapping process takes less than a minute and their batteries are compatible with most existing electric motorbikes in SouthEast Asia.
Oyika is helping to build EV charging stations in Singapore. It aims at building 60,000 EV charging stations in Singapore by 2030.
Oyika aims to solve three primary pain points for electric motorbike adoptions of range anxiety, long charging times, and the upfront purchase cost of EV batteries. It aims to lower the barriers to EV adoption in Indonesia and Southeast Asia via the bundling of charging EVs on a monthly subscription plan, starting out with their own electric motorbikes.
Conclusion
The expansion of the EV charging infrastructure, aided by the deployment of targets for charging and battery-swapping stations, implementation of regulations, availability of financial assistance, etc are some of the factors affecting the scenario in a positive way. Furthermore, the rising EV sales are driving the demand for EV charging and battery-swapping stations, thus attracting major investments. Apart from this, the falling battery prices and improving technology are expected to enable automakers to offer cost-competitive EVs, thus resulting in the increasing demand for battery-swapping technologies.
Read More:- Battery Swapping Technology – Need, Importance, Benefits & Challenges