[Introduction: The battery swap mode has always been not quite the same as range extension and hybrid. The extended range has eaten through the policy dividends for many years, and the hybrid has been getting better recently, only the battery swap mode has not improved. NIO, which is deeply engaged in this field, has the halo of glory as a leader on its head, but it has to shoulder the heavy pressure of making ends meet. As Li Bin, the founder of NIO, said, battery replacement is a difficult but correct thing. Now, with NIO's continuous efforts, the battery swap type is beginning to show signs of the growth of all things in spring. 】
Written by Chen Dejun and edited by He Zi
NIO has increased its power supply in the field of battery swapping.
On June 13, the first batch of fourth-generation battery swap stations of NIO was officially launched, which will support independent battery swapping of multiple brands and models, and will be the users of NIO, Ledao and strategic partners of battery swapping. Compared with the previous generation, NIO's fourth-generation battery swap station has increased the battery swap speed by 22%, with the fastest time only 2 minutes and 24 seconds, the number of battery compartments increased to 23, and the number of daily service times can reach up to 480 times. NIO's fourth-generation battery swap station is equipped with 6 ultra-wide-angle lidars and 4 OrinX chips as standard, with a computing power of 1016TOPS, and supports one-click automatic battery swapping and independent battery swapping when leaving the car.
At the end of last month, NIO Energy Investment (Hubei) Co., Ltd. announced that it had received a strategic investment of RMB 1.5 billion from Wuhan Everbright Innovation Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and other institutions. This is undoubtedly another life-sustaining elixir for Weilai, which has been in a state of loss, and it is also a strong tonic for the battery swap camp. The most intuitive benefit for users may be the more intensive coverage of battery swap stations.
Li Bin is determined to bet on battery swapping
The anxiety of charging is not only the point of queuing on holidays. Rather, the owner always keeps a space in his mind for the energy planner. This is a small annoying load on the human brain.
Relatively speaking, the battery swap mode does not have such troubles, and it will be revived in 2 minutes if it is fast. Usually, you don't have to think about when to replenish the energy, look at the display that the power is insufficient, and go to the nearest battery swap station to walk around. It's similar to refueling. 2-8 minutes to complete the energy replenishment, this is the basic skill of the battery swap family, the charging mode can only sigh at this.
It's not just about speed. If you want to charge fast, high pressure is the key. However, if the voltage is high, the associated problems are not small, there is a hidden danger of fire and accidental electric shock, and it needs to be equipped with a heat dissipation device, which has a large load on the power grid. Fast charging can also increase the wear and tear of batteries and devices. It's hard to say whether it makes sense to pay so much for efficiency gains.
The benefit of battery replacement to both car owners and car companies is the cost of car purchase. The battery is a large cost, and the battery is omitted, so the owner can use a small investment to get a high-end car enjoyment. When selling a used car, there is no need to consider battery depreciation. And car companies gain a competitive advantage with low prices. For example, NIO's BASS solution for separating vehicles from electricity and electricity is usually 7-128,000 yuan lower than the original price if the vehicle is sold separately without a battery.
Battery swapping is more friendly to the recycling of batteries, which themselves are a super polluting source and need to be properly disposed of after being scrapped. The battery in the battery swap camp is not managed by "small retail investors", and car owners do not need to worry about this matter. Enterprises save the trouble of recycling batteries one by one, and unified management can be done. In the same way, updating and iterating of the battery is also a breeze.
The battery swap station has a strong peak shaving and valley filling capacity, charging at night when the electricity consumption is low, and changing the battery of the vehicle during the day. It solves the load on the grid and reduces the cost of electricity. The Society of Automotive Engineers of China predicts that the annual electricity consumption of electric vehicles in China will account for 11~12% of the grid load in 2030.
Because of the high charging efficiency, the battery swap station is also more space-saving. A NIO battery swap station occupies an area equal to about four parking spaces, and if it is in charging mode, it can also charge four vehicles at the same time, taking into account the difference of several times the energy replenishment time, the battery swap station can serve more vehicles in the same time.
Why battery swapping has been unpopular
The battery replacement is so fragrant, but it has never been done. Because there are three roadblocks to be cleared.
First, the cost of building a website is high. That's why charging piles are easier to use. As long as you want, ordinary families can install a charging pile. Therefore, the charging camp can be occupied by a sea of people to calmly improve the coverage density. However, the battery swap station is different, the construction of the station requires millions of funds, and there are operation and maintenance costs after the station is built. This is not something that a small family can afford, but a pure business behavior, and the worst thing is that this kind of business behavior is generally losing money, who wants to do it? It's no wonder NIO is so lonely.
However, the so-called cost disadvantage is only relative to the slow charging pile. A supercharger with 5 piles costs no less than a battery swap station.
Second, the compatibility is insufficient. Li Shufu, the helmsman of Geely Automobile, once said that if the battery swap mode wants to be profitable, unifying battery specifications is the premise. It is easy to suggest that unified specifications are not easy, battery technology is the focus of industry competition, it is the situation of hundreds of battles, each battery is in the rapid evolution, who wants to be bound by the "unified specifications".
However, since there are compatible charging guns in the field of charging, it is theoretically not impossible to establish a unified standard for battery swapping. Moreover, the policy has also provided guidance. In April 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) launched the general battery swap standard "Safety Requirements for Battery Swapping of Electric Vehicles". At the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Power Battery Conference, Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that he would promote the unification of standards such as battery size, interface, and protocol for battery swapping.
The third point is actually the concept. Take buying a house as an example, most people still feel that buying a house is more practical than renting. The same is true for cars, which have their own property rights, which is more reassuring than renting, and there is no reason at all. And ideas can and are being changed, at least by some people first.
The power of policy
At the policy level, there has been a lot of support for new energy vehicles, but there were not many special policies for battery swapping before. But the idea started very early. In recent years, however, there has been an increase in targeted policies.
In recent years, the General Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation and other departments have successively issued a series of policy documents, such as the "Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Service Guarantee Capacity of Charging and Swapping Infrastructure", "Notice on Launching the Pilot Work of the Application of Battery Swap Mode for New Energy Vehicles", and "Guiding Opinions on Further Building a High-quality Charging Infrastructure System" to promote the construction of charging and swapping infrastructure and standard systems, and encourage the promotion and application of battery swapping modes.
In June last year, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Announcement on Extending and Optimizing the Vehicle Purchase Tax Reduction and Exemption Policy for New Energy Vehicles", which made it clear that the purchase tax of battery-swapping models is only taxed on the price of the vehicle, and the battery does not need to be calculated.
It should be noted that not all new energy vehicles are tax-free, and the tax exemption is only 30,000. That is to say, if it is a very luxurious new energy vehicle, it is very likely to squeeze into the noble tax payment circle, but if you subtract the battery money, it may just be avoided. And according to the half-price tax that will start in 2026, batteries will still be a tax-saving method by then. This move is undoubtedly a comprehensive support for the battery swap mode.
On April 12, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Transport jointly issued the "Notice on Carrying out the Pilot Work of Charging and Swapping Facilities at the County Level to Make Up for the Shortcomings". The central government will arrange incentive funds to support the pilot counties to carry out the pilot work. Strengthen the planning and construction of charging and swapping facilities for new energy vehicles in key villages and towns. It supports both charging and battery swapping.
The policy has a positive guiding effect on the market, and the increase in the battery swap indicates the considerable prospects of the battery swap mode.
Swapping snowballs
Li Bin is getting rid of the image of a loner. At present, Changan, Geely, JAC, Chery, Lotus, GAC, FAW and many other car companies have clearly cooperated with NIO to jointly promote the development of the battery swap mode. And the change is the last two years.
In November 2023, Changan Automobile and NIO signed a cooperation agreement on battery swap business, and one of the key points of cooperation between the two parties is to promote the establishment of battery swap standards.
Then, Li Shufu, who had been observing for a long time, waved his teacher to change the battery. Geely and NIO signed a strategic cooperation agreement on battery swapping, which will carry out comprehensive cooperation in various fields such as battery swap standards, battery swap technology, battery swap service network construction and operation, battery swap model development and customization, battery asset management and operation.
In addition to joining forces with mainstream car companies in the automotive industry. NIO has also cooperated extensively with energy industry leaders such as Sinopec, CNOOC, Shell, State Grid, and China Southern Power Grid. With such a strong circle of friends, as well as the financial backing of just starting. NIO's battery swap mode is expected to quickly break the bottleneck of the industry, and the spring of battery swap is not far away.
Comments
The high cost of building a station in the battery swap mode and the limited number of partners need to be solved. By actively seeking out like-minded people, NIO's path has become wider and wider. The advantage of this asset-heavy model is that once the break-even point is crossed, the additional investment is not much, and it is difficult for opponents to surpass. Will NIO be able to hold out until the day of victory?
(This article is the original of "Heyan Reading Cars", and may not be reproduced without authorization)