Recently, the transition from "charging" to "battery swap" has become an upsurge, getting preferred by various manufacturers. Many car companies, such as BAIC, NIO, Geely, etc., have launched battery swap models and substations. However, due to the inconsistent standards, almost everyone "plays their own games".

Days ago, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Service Guarantee Capability of Charging and Swapping Infrastructure (Draft for Comments), indicating that it is necessary to promote the formulation of a unified battery swap standard in major application areas. Does the establishment of this policy mean that car companies can "play together"?

Experts put forward different views. Viewpoint 1: unified battery replacement standards may come at the cost of the death of the vehicle manufacturers, which means the demise of brands. Viewpoint 2: Battery swap will bring "new life" to traditional automobiles under the integration of multiple technologies such as energy, transportation, intelligence, and informatization.

"Great unification" is not easy

In May 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation (Standardization Administration) approved to release the national standards Safety Requirements of Battery Swap for Electric Vehicles, which is the first basic general national standard formulated by the automotive industry in the field of battery swap mode. From the second half of this year, pilot programs for the application of battery swap models for new energy vehicles will be launched nationwide.

Under frequent favorable policies, new energy vehicle battery swap stations are on the uptake. According to statistics released by the Industry Consulting Expert in China, as of December 2020, there would be a total of 555 domestic swapping facilities. It is predicted that by 2025, the battery-swapping mode can bring about 18 billion yuan RMB in equipment demand and a market scale of 100 billion yuan.

Industry insiders also expressed different views. Some practitioners believe that, unlike the past, the development of new energy vehicles is no longer for licenses and subsidies, but for a new era, and the market is ushering in a spring of growth. Other practitioners indicate that, “Today’s battery-swapping is for a single vehicle type and a single area.” However, it is difficult to promote the uniformity of the battery-swapping standards of new energy vehicles.

Xu Meng, professor at the Institute of Transportation System Science and Engineering of Beijing Jiaotong University and the State Key Laboratory of Rail Traffic Control and Safety, said in an interview with the China Science Daily, "Promoting all battery-swapping new energy vehicles to use batteries with a unified standard means the necessity for car companies, power battery suppliers, and swap station suppliers to reach an agreement. Despite current challenges, it is beneficial for future development of this industry.”

He pointed out that as the development of new energy vehicles, almost every new energy car company possesses its own platform and core technology. The unified battery-swapping standard means that different car companies need to make a series of adjustments first, which involves many issues including cost, intellectual property, and management, etc. What’s more, relevant data sharing is also required between car companies and battery operators.

"From the perspective of car companies, the selection of power batteries is often based on the mastery of battery technology and product positions. Currently, different types, modes and performances have been formed for power batteries. To form a unified power exchange standard, in addition to designing factors such as interfaces, it also includes the unification of related parameters.” Xu Meng explained.

In his point of view, the power battery industry is still in its infancy, and various companies are still exploring, which shows a market with huge potential. However, the industry is still in its primary development, and relevant standardization has not yet been formed.

"Whole vehicle is king" or "user is king"

Industry insiders who adhere to the concept of "whole vehicle is king" believe that it is the basic logic. The whole vehicle must control everything. If the battery swap mode is used and can be used worldwide, the standard must be unified. They believe that if anyone's car can use the battery-swapping mode, then it will be questionable whether the logic of ‘the whole car is king’ can exist. They believe that car companies are brand-oriented. With the unification of batteries, hardware, chassis and related technologies, automakers are just like traditional computer industries where manufacturers only make product shells, and this will lead to the death of auto OEMs.

Experts divide the current battery-swapping modes into three categories. The first is only within the scope of their own brands; the second is a partial type, which is exchanged in specific scenarios, such as the taxi industry, rather than in a world scope with complete energy substitution; the third is interconnected, operating systems and platforms are managed by different people. This method is the best, but not for now.

Some experts are optimistic about this. They believe: the "three powers", which refer to motors, electronic controls and batteries, must be standardized in the future, manufacturers should not put too much effort into it, but differentiation can be produced from big data, intelligent driving, and interior and exterior design of the vehicle body." At a certain level, it can be said that the manufacturer is the king, but at a higher level, the user is the king. "All technologies, models, and products must be based on users’ needs, so that they can have a good sense of experience and convenience."

It should be step by step

Although China's swapping facilities are in a window of rapid development, Professor Xu Meng pointed out that “we should not overestimate the coming of the universal era of swapping facilities.” Their basis is that “the automobile industry is too large. At present, there are only a few hundred swapping stations in our whole industry. Even if a few thousand of them add up to tens of thousands of parking spaces, which is still in its infancy. When there are thousands of domestic substations, we will see whether the manufacturers start to interact. "

Xu believes that to promote uniform standards for battery swapping, it is necessary to proceed step by step. “It is not required to launch national mandatory standards in one step, but choose recommended national standards or industry standards first, and then gradually make transition. When formulating the battery standards, it is required to consider factors such as technological progress and corporate generalization, and try to be market-oriented to fit demands of more auto companies. In addition to battery standards, battery-swapping mode standards also involve other aspects, such as car-electric separation and some communication settings after car-electric combination. At the same time, certain indicators should be given to design features such as appearance and size, providing certain standards for car companies to refer to when developing battery-swapping modes. From the current situation, it is more complicated and difficult to promote the unification of battery-swapping standards. If the government makes overall plans and enterprises and industry departments actively explore, there may be positive feedback from the market."

If you have enquries or question for the topic, please contact:

assistant@bestao-consulting.com