World’s largest EV battery maker unveils 373-mile-range swappable batteries
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the world’s largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage, has unveiled two types of swappable batteries and rolled out a charging network with 100 partners in China, a press release said.
Founded in 2011, CATL is the battery provider for the likes of Tesla, BMW and Volkswagen to name a few of the leading electric vehicle makers. The company isn’t just assembling batteries for these brands but providing the technology for the most important component of their EVs.
CATL’s technological expertise is much superior to that of battery manufacturers located elsewhere in the world and has helped address concerns of range among potential EV buyers.
Interesting Engineering has previously reported how the company’s recent achievements, including fast-charging batteries, could herald a new era in the EV sector. Now, the company is rolling out swappable batteries as it believes, it will maximize the value of each battery.
Paying as per usage
According to Yang Jun, the CEO of CATL’s battery swapping arm, CAES, the EV industry will see a shift wherein users will not buy the entire battery pack. Instead, people will prefer to pay for their usage of the battery pack, which will also help maximize the value of each battery.
With this in mind, CATL is working on the Choco-swap ecosystem, where users will be able to swap batteries on their vehicles in about 100 seconds.
At its conference last month, the company launched two versions of its swappable batteries, dubbed #20 and #25, much like #92 and #95 versions of gasoline available at gas stations.
Both #20 and #25 are available in lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) and ternary versions with capacities ranging from 42 kWh to 70 kWh. They have a range between 248 – 372 miles (400 – 600 km) and will be available for vehicles of class A0 and A/B.
The company also announced that all its batteries developed in the future would be compatible with the swappable approach.
The road ahead
At the conference, Jun explained that China’s 100,000 gas stations would eventually be replaced by equal proportions of public and private charging stations and battery-swapping centers.
With this in mind, plans to build an initial network of 1,000 Choco-Swap stations by 2025 and expand into Hong Kong and Macau. Over the years, it will increase this number to 10,000 stations with the ultimate aim of building 30,000 battery swap stations along with its partners.
When ready, these stations will not only serve customers by providing them with charged batteries, but they will also serve as distributed energy storage units for a battery-to-grid system. With each station hosting 14-30 battery packs, the swap stations alone will serve as a store of 33.6 million kWh of green electricity.
CATL will use its advanced technology for battery monitoring to ensure optimal battery usage and maximize the value of each battery. With the battery swapping model rolled out, CATL is also working with car makers and financial institutions to make it easy to buy, use, and replace cars without any hassles.
Robin Zeng, CEO of CATL at the event, added :
Battery swapping is not only CATL’s endeavor but also the endeavor of everyone who wants to promote sustainable development.
“We hope to bring together more forces through the Choco-Swap ecosystem to jointly promote the prosperous development of the battery swapping industry,”
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World’s largest EV battery maker unveils 373-mile-range swappable batteries, source
