Inside China’s electric drive for swappable car batteries

Detroit / Beijing, – A year ago, Tesla rejected an alternative way to replace electric car batteries as “trouble-free and not suitable for widespread use.” Beijing does not seem to agree.

In fact, while China is pushing for replacement batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) in addition to regular vehicle charging, the government has put its weight behind a number of technology companies.

Four companies – carmakers Nio and Geely, battery swap manufacturer Aulton and state-owned oil producer Sinopec (600028.SS) – say they plan to build a total of 24,000 swap stations nationwide by 2025, up from about 1,400 today. Are more than

Battery swapping allows drivers to replace depleted packs quickly with fully charged ones, rather than plugging the vehicle into a charging point. Swapping could help mitigate the growing strains placed on power grids as millions of drivers juice up, yet specialists caution it can only take off in a big way if batteries become standardized industry-wide.

If China is successful in making swapping successful on a large scale, though, the shift could undermine the business models of global brands like Tesla, Volkswagen and General Motors, whose EVs are designed for and powered by their own proprietary batteries and, in Tesla’s case, its own charging network.