As electric vehicles grow in popularity, fleet managers are faced with the task of working around downtime for battery charging. OEMs are working on fast charging solutions, but a new report has found that another option, battery swapping, is arising as a way to avoid the downtime stumbling block.
Recently, Chinese startup U Power reported a quick follow-on order for its new EV battery swapping stations. Introduced earlier this year, the stations include free-standing, guided robotic vehicles to do the swapping in 2-3 minutes.
In the lead up to the launch of the stations, Jia Li, CEO and Chairman said that the company observed the average daily mileage of a vehicle utilizing battery-swapping "significantly surpasse[d]" that of vehicles using traditional charging, according to the report.
Some fast-charging battery makers are expecting to deliver an EV charging time of under five minutes in the coming years. However, cutting down charging time to 2-3 minutes will take longer. For fleets counting by the minute, there is potential for battery swapping to be the more efficient option.
The cost of the battery is another element in play. According to the report, a cost-of-ownership perspective falls on the side of battery swapping as it allows customers to purchase only the vehicle body and lease the battery pack.
