China Launches Nationwide Pilot Project for Electric Vehicle Battery 'Swap' Instead of 'Charge'

Battery Swap Like Tire Change to Solve Charging Time, the Biggest Obstacle to Electric Vehicle Adoption
China Likely to Combine Battery Charging and Swapping Methods... Explosive Growth Expected in Battery Demand

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] China is conducting a pilot project for battery swapping to solve the 'charging difficulty' of electric vehicles. Although the idea of battery swapping has been considered as a way to address the biggest drawback of electric vehicles?the battery charging time?this is the first time a nationwide pilot project is being conducted to verify its feasibility.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

According to the online edition of People's Daily, People's Daily Online, on the 12th, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology plans to start a pilot project for electric vehicle battery swapping across the country in the second half of this year. Battery swapping refers to replacing a depleted battery with a fully charged one at a charging station, similar to changing tires.

The biggest obstacles to the activation of electric vehicles are charging stations and charging time. Building new electric vehicle charging stations has required a lot of time and enormous funds. Above all, charging time has been the biggest challenge. Even with fast charging, it takes about 30 minutes, which has been pointed out as a barrier to the spread of electric vehicles. As of the end of April, there are about 65,000 electric vehicle charging stations and 1.87 million chargers in China, but more charging stations and chargers are needed to expand electric vehicle adoption.

Jiangxi Shanghai Jiaotong University Intelligent Vehicle Research Institute Director said, "Battery swapping and charging will form a complementary relationship," and "The battery swapping business model will contribute to the development and spread of new energy vehicles such as electric vehicles." He added, "The battery swapping method will increase user satisfaction for electric vehicle owners."

People's Daily Online explained that since fast charging consumes a lot of power and affects battery life, the battery swapping method is more efficient. It also added that there is an advantage in that there is no need to create separate charging spaces in existing buildings.

The electric vehicle battery swapping pilot project is expected to be applied first to car-sharing companies and the taxi industry.

Wu Zixin, Deputy General Manager of China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., said, "The Chinese government's new energy vehicle development strategy is a strategic consideration to realize the dream of becoming a strong automobile country," and "The electric vehicle development strategy is necessary to address carbon neutrality and the depletion of petroleum resources."

If the battery swapping business model becomes active, battery demand will inevitably explode, raising concerns about battery supply shortages.

Meanwhile, Xinhua News Agency reported that in the first half of this year, China's new energy vehicle production and sales surged by 94.4% and 92.3%, respectively, compared to 2019 before COVID-19, reaching 1.215 million and 1.206 million units. The market penetration rate (sales ratio) of new energy vehicles rose sharply from 5.4% at the beginning of the year to 9.4%. Xinhua also added that as of the end of May, the total number of new energy vehicles in China was 5.8 million, which accounts for half of the world's electric vehicles.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.