The NIO-led battery swap model is about to get policy boosts but the standard construction is facing compatibility problems.
The Shanghai Securities News reported recently that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is encouraging companies to develop a battery swap model based on usage scenarios.
The MIIT will also encourage local governments to formulate relevant policies to promote the development of the battery swap industry in the form of pilot programs to support and encourage companies to develop and manufacture products based on battery swap models, according to the report.
NIO-led battery swap model is about to get policy boosts in China
Experts believe that the establishment of standards can crack the most prominent compatibility problems of the battery swap model, the related infrastructure construction and new energy vehicle development has a significance to promote.
MIIT researcher Bai Hua recently said, the new energy vehicle industry needs to sort out the difficulties of the separation of car and electricity mode problems and work together to promote, it is recommended that the first enterprise standards, group standards to carry out standard research, MIIT will also support to encourage enterprises to carry out battery swap model research and development and production.
This means new energy vehicle battery swap model standard construction will be accelerated.
In China, NIO is the most high-profile promoter of the battery swap model. Last month, the EV maker released its highly expected BaaS (Battery as a Service) battery rental service in China and generated high interest in China's auto and technology circles.
China's first recommended battery swap standard led by NIO and BAIC passes review
In fact, MIIT vice minister Xin Guobin had also specifically mentioned before the battery swap mode standard construction problem.
Xin Guobin said: "such as the overall design of the vehicle, the battery box should be standardized, to have national standards, the battery should also put forward standardized requirements, whether it is a soft pack or hard pack, is a square or column-shaped battery, should be standardized. In addition, the battery's plugging these devices should also be standardized."
For a long time, the power battery, especially the single-cell specification size is not uniform, has been a major obstacle to the development of the battery swap model.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Committee, believes that the development of standards in these areas can promote cooperation between OEMs and battery companies, and also help promote the construction of battery swap infrastructure.
He suggested that, in addition to the battery, battery swap mode standards should also cover other aspects.
Cui Dongshu said: "After the separation of car and electricity and car after the combination of some signal contact measures, at the same time, the appearance, size and other aspects of the design features in line with our battery swap mode to give certain indicators clearly, so that the car enterprises in the battery swap model design have a certain standard can refer to, to The development of battery swap mode we think will have a very good promotion significance."
NIO launches BaaS battery rental service, brings car prices down by about $10,000
At present, China's new energy vehicle battery swap mode is mainly used in the field of public transportation, such as battery swap bus and battery swap taxi.
Because of this, the development of the battery swap model has distinct local characteristics, which is equivalent to the formation of local standards.
In MIIT's opinion, it is a more comprehensive consideration to conduct research in the form of corporate standards or group standards first.
Cui Dongshu said: "local battery swap standard establishment has its merits, that is to say, the local battery swap standard can be combined with the local reality, make their own battery swap work in an orderly manner. At the same time, it is also possible to make certain types of models get a greater chance of entry and exclude other models through local standards. Therefore local standards should be combined with group standards, and MIIT is more thoughtful in this area."
Since the second half of this year, car companies have been cutting into or scaling up the battery swap model.
There are car companies and power grid companies, battery swap service providers, battery companies, etc. jointly set up a battery swap alliance, committed to promoting the battery swap model.
There are also companies that work with the power grid to build more battery swap stations. There are also car companies preparing to set up battery asset management companies, specializing in battery swap business.
With the standard construction speeding up, the battery swap mode is expected to develop faster.
However, Cui Dongshu believes that in addition to the standard problem, the battery swap model also has to crack other difficulties.
"First of all, the demand for heavy assets of battery is still relatively large. Secondly, the demand for land is also relatively strong, and it needs to be reasonably distributed throughout the city," Cui said.
"At the same time, there is also a need to consider the safety of the configuration of various aspects of the voltage and power supply network within our city. So there are complex requirements for the overall corporate battery swap station layout, as well as the number of battery swap battery reserves and other aspects," he said.
