In the next few years, electric vehicles are anticipated to be on the road. But then again, the main challenge lies in having a charging infrastructure that would make the entire process an easy, cost-effective, and a hassle-free affair as possessing a gas-powered vehicle. Prolonged charging times are the main drawback often cited against the popularity of e-mobility.
The lithium cells in EVs do take a certain amount of time to get refueled, based on the size of the charging infrastructure or the capability of the battery. This is where the concept of electric vehicle battery swapping peeps in and proves its flair, as it can reduce the gap significantly. For faster recharging, there is the easy leeway of swapping the battery on the run, a process that takes much less time. Whatsoever, to execute the course of battery swapping, the battery housing on the vehicle should be designed in a particular manner.
Battery swapping can be defined as a smart technique that takes in swapping a worn-out electric vehicle cell with the one that is already charged. When it would supplant recharging, it would also wipe out the long refilling times, one of the major drawbacks associated with zero-emission vehicles. However, this process must be conducted at a specific station, and certainly paired with proper technology.
An autonomous swapping depot takes worn-out battery modules away from the vehicles and swaps them with fully charged cells. The exhausted battery units are then propped on tables where they are recharged. The modular battery design in electric cars makes the process even easier. Made of lego-like modules, the batteries can put up any automobile irrespective of their model and size. And, as mentioned above, the swapping takes negligible time.
In the last few years, a number of companies have turned up that provide fully automated and autonomous structures that don’t really entail the fact that the passengers have to get out of the vehicle to switch components. The system also come up with the potential of handling different types of battery packs.
At the same time, the swapping job is extremely easy and effortless indeed. The user just needs to drive his vehicle to the respective station, park the car in the area dedicated for the task, the swapping is done; the driver can then drive back once the payment is done. The whole operation is actually faster than refueling an internal combustion engine vehicle. Tesla, the renowned car manufacturing company, has already shifted to the business. It tunes the elasticity and suppleness of electric vehicles with that of combustion automobiles.
The main objective is to hold out a very quickly charged battery for replacement, then make a slow recharge available while keeping the CELL safe for use in another car. At the same time, this concept also makes sure that we switch to renewable sources of electricity.
In a nutshell, battery swapping technology provides individuals with a swift and hassle-free solution of recharging batteries, where each battery swap doesn’t take much time (maximum ten minutes) and calls for much smaller space to mount in compared to other conventional procedures. Most importantly, battery swapping techniques happen to minimize down-time and procurement cost of a vehicle.
According to Allied Market Research, the global electric vehicle battery swapping market is anticipated to cite a significant CAGR from 2021 to 2030. Increase in demand for electric vehicles in the last few years, emergence of adequate public charging amenities, and the advantages associated with reduced time for charging EVs are the major factors fueling the growth of the market in several way. On the other hand, disparities in battery technology and operating cost of battery swapping depots are anticipated to curtail the growth to some extent. However, advent of shared e-mobility and its popularity and arrival of cutting-edge battery swapping models have almost toned down the impeding factors and paved the way for an array of lucrative prospects in the industry.
Here, it’s worth mentioning that the outbreak of the global health crisis in the name of COVID-19 gave way to a significant decline in in demand for new as well as old vehicles, thereby impacting the market growth negatively, especially during the first phase of the lockdown. Moreover, untoward global economic conditions happened to hamper the business of the key players to a considerable degree. Nevertheless, the global situation has getting better and the stakeholders have also started bringing up-to-date their strategies, and with this drift on board, the electric vehicle battery swapping market is projected to revive, in terms of revenue, soon.
Article by Koyel Ghosh
Author’s Bio- Koyel Ghosh is a blogger with a strong passion and enjoys writing on miscellaneous domains, as she believes it lets her explore a wide variety of niches. She has an innate interest for creativity and enjoys experimenting with different writing styles. A writer who never stops imagining, she has been serving the corporate industry for the last four years.