With the rise of electric vehicles, and more people buying them, the world’s largest car market is looking for ways to spur the adoption of EVs. To do so, China is now stepping up its efforts to facilitate initiatives that will allow for EV batteries to be swapped out on the go. Think power banks, but for cars. 

China’s plan is impressive; to establish common industry standards which will allow drivers to drive to their nearest battery stop, and quickly swap out their electric car’s battery rather than waiting hours for it to charge. The ultimate goal is to enable drivers to change batteries at any facility, no matter what car they have. 

A battery-swapping system would not only potentially save time for drivers, which remains one of the biggest issues consumers have with EVs and it could also lower the upfront prices of buying electric vehicles. This is because consumers would be able to buy the car and the batteries separately, or possibly just lease the batteries

China’s efforts have highlighted the advantages of a country where almost half of the world’s EVs are sold. This push has put them front and centre over other nations in promoting new EV technologies, and the Chinese government has no plans to stop pushing the changes which can affect the entire industry. This comes at a time where demand for EVs has slowed down tremendously in China since it lowered subsidies for buyers in 2019. 

China’s own EV makers like BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology and NIO have already been testing battery-swap services, which they say take less than three minutes. The carmakers have also offered consumers the option of buying batteries and cars separately.

But, without common standards, customers are restricted to using their own carmakers’ facilities, severely hampering the convenience of battery swapping. BAIC BluePark has set up 187 battery-swap stations in 15 Chinese cities for 16,000 electric-powered taxis. Nio allows consumers to rent an EV battery pack for the day for around ¥50 (RM30) a day, with around 125 battery-swap stations for its owners. In the US, the largest EV automaker Tesla did do tests on battery swapping technology, but did not offer the service on a large scale

While no details have officially been made clear, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has acknowledged the country’s broad goals regarding its push to promote battery swapping. 

“We will actively promote the demonstration application of battery-swap mode and improve the system and standardisation,” they said. “As the next step, we will optimise the development environment, guide enterprises to improve battery-swap technology, promote the formation of a more mature business model, and further improve the convenience of new energy vehicle usage.”

It’s all left to see how China will be able to achieve this battery swapping feat. What do you think? Leave a comment below!