Venture capital investors are placing bets on start-ups which allow drivers to swap depleted batteries for fresh ones in five minutes or less, making them suitable for smaller delivery vehicles in dense urban areas.
Battery swapping is dominated in China by Shanghai-based electric vehicle maker Nio, while CATL, the world’s biggest battery maker, has launched a collaboration to roll out a network of 1,000 stations. Europe and the US, where the cost of building the network and making vehicles compatible is high, have been slower to adopt the technology.
But backers of smaller entrants in markets from India and Japan to Spain and Taiwan believe swappable batteries could plug a gap in charging capacity in areas where grids are ill-suited to the high power requirements of fast charging stations. Charging up the batteries can also be done at the times of day when energy is cheaper, including from renewable sources.