In the late 1990s, while 4W EV market was still evolving, the battery swapping technology saw the emergence of another segment of automobile i.e. 2W & 3W sectors. Taiwan based company such as the Gogoro (2011) began to develop and deploy battery swapping technology for their electric scooters, which allowed riders to quickly switch out their drained batteries with fully charged ones. These battery packs were then charged at the convenience of charge station at the time when gird tariff was lower and/or using green energies being generated far away and pumped to these charging stations. These stations were charging nominal fees to charge these battery pack of 2W & 3W. Some other companies like Bird and Lime, are also experimenting with battery swapping for electric scooters and even bicycles for which batteries could be quickly swapping out with fully charged ones, allowing the scooters to remain in service for longer periods of time.
The Benefits of Battery Swapping [“Battery as a Service (BaaS)”]
Battery swapping offers several benefits for Electric Vehicle (EV) owners and the environment. Here are some of the key advantages of battery swapping:
- Increased Availability: Fast and convenient way to recharge EVs, increasing their availability and reducing the downtime associated with traditional charging methods.
- Eliminates Range Anxiety: Eliminates range anxiety, one of the biggest challenges associated with EV ownership, by providing a quick and easy way to replace a depleted battery with a fully charged one.
- Battery Inspection: Allows for frequent inspection of batteries, which can help optimize their utilization and extend their lifespan.
- Standalone Cost-Effective Infrastructure: Stations can be unitized & built more cheaply, similar to Gas filling station. With better harvesting of Solar & Wind Power these stand alone charging stations can be made to store electricity – generated from these renewable energy sources, eliminating the complete back-end power infrastructure.
- Environmental Benefits: Battery swapping is also helpful in reducing the environmental impact of EVs, as it eliminates the random charging & later disposal of used batteries. Additionally, in combination with renewable energies and these charging stations can help to reduce the overall demand for electricity from conventional resources.
- Faster Charging: It can be designed for much faster rate of charging, thus reducing the overall energy replenishment time of EVs.
- Flexibility: It offers flexibility for EV owners, as they can choose between charging their battery or swapping it out depending on their needs and preferences.
- Longer Vehicle Lifespan: It can potentially increase the physical use life of EV per se, as it will allow the upgrading of battery to a newer and higher-capacity battery in times to come (albeit in same form factor).
Challenges & Future of Battery Swapping
Battery swapping is an innovative technology having its own issues, many of them are of critical nature, yet if handled properly, it will be of great help in pushing the EV transition. Each of these challenges need specific attention for this technology to come in mainstream. As the EV industry continues to evolve, battery swapping technology will also continue to evolve to play important role in shaping the future of transportation. Some of these challenges are listed below:
- Standardization/ Limited Battery Types: Battery swapping requires a standard battery design and size, which can be challenging for OEMs, given the variety of EV models and manufacturers in the market. Ensuring compatibility and interoperability between different OEMs is essential for battery swapping to be widely adopted. This is one of the most important factors as when done, the 2W & 3W manufacturers will have to design their vehicles around such standardized battery form rather than the present way of vehicle design, in which once the vehicle design is complete, the battery is designed to fit in the space available.
- Limited Availability & Poor Maintenance: Battery swapping stations are not always readily available, especially in remote areas where EVs are more likely to be used. Even if these stations are made available, many times they cease to function as there are no people to operate and maintain them.
- Expensive Infrastructure: Establishing battery swapping stations requires significant investment in infrastructure, including land, equipment, and trained personnel.
- Safety: Battery swapping involves handling large amounts of portable electrical energy, requiring robust safety protocols for safety of personnel. There is also a risk of fire or explosion if batteries are not handled properly and/ or charging stations are not maintained properly, which could pose a threat to general public safety. Safety of this setup is extremely critical as compared to a petrol pump where stored energy is visible where as in the EV charging stations, the electrical energy is not visible. Moreover, electricity itself is still not well understood in India where about 30 people die every day because of electrocution.
- Homologation Challenge: A big safety challenge will come in the form of crash safety when these batteries would be owned, maintained & charged by someone else but would be used by multiple users.
- Battery Terminal Connections: With frequent battery swapping, maintaining good high-current connections of these batteries within the battery compartment, would also be extremely critical to avoid dangerous overheating and arcing on the power connections.
- High Cost Of Swapping Station: To create a battery charging system even for reasonable number of vehicles requires a heavy investment – both locally as well as at the power grid level, supporting them.
Epilogue
Addressing these challenges will be key to the widespread adoption and success of battery swapping technology which has the potential to transform the way we power our EVs, but it’s essential to address the challenges and risks before implementing the technology widely. Despite these challenges, battery swapping is an exciting area of present-day mobility sector and it is certainly required for EV transition. As battery technology advances and more manufacturers adopt battery swapping systems, we can expect the technology to become more widely used in the years ahead, bringing benefits like faster charging, greater availability, and reduced range anxiety to EV owners. It has the potential to play an important role in the growth of EVs market, overcoming the most common issue of common man which is “range anxiety”.
On the flipside, the advancement of battery technology in the field of solid-state batteries also brings a dramatically opposite point of view as with arrival of solid-state batteries, the need for battery swapping technology may itself get reduced. This is due to the fact that the solid-state batteries can be quickly charged and also have a longer lifespan, reducing the need for frequent battery swaps or even the charging of battery itself. Overall, while battery swapping technology has the potential to improve the convenience and cost-effectiveness of EVs, it still needs to overcome several obstacles as well as future technological development in the field of battery technologies.
Despite the challenges, the future of battery swapping in India looks promising, with several key players entering the market. The overall market for Battery swapping in India is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. According to a report by Niti Aayog, the demand for Battery swapping in India is projected to reach 25~30 GWh by 2025 and 50-60 GWh by 2030. This presents a significant opportunity for Battery swapping providers to establish themselves in the Indian market and contribute to the growth of the EV industry.
Concluded
Prabhat Khare holds BE (Electrical) & a Gold Medalist from IIT, Roorkee. He is an Automotive (EV) & Engineering Consultant, as well as a Technology Article Writer. He is a Certified Energy Manager (BEE) & Lead Assessor for ISO 9K, 14K, 45K & 50K. He can be reached at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/ in/prabhatkhare2/.
