Links 🔗
- NIO’s Battery Swap vs. Tesla’s Supercharger V3
- Battery-Swapping, NIO, and Formula E’s Future
There are 3 main elements to an Electric Vehicle (EV):
- The car
- The battery
- The charging station
Tesla has secured its foothold in these aspects for their EVs, you buy a Tesla EV with a Tesla battery to charge at a Tesla station.
NIO is adding an alternative to the power solution, instead of charging the EV battery, you can swap it out for a fully charged one at the station.
Benefits of Battery Swapping:
- It’s faster than charging (0% to 100% in 5 minutes, whereas fast charging takes ~30 minutes)
- Cheaper EV cost (Option to buy an EV without battery, leasing the battery separately)
- Less worry of battery degradation (you’ll be getting batteries in good condition after every swap)
Limitations of Battery Swapping:
- Still too few swapping stations to go absolutely anywhere
- Uniformity of batteries may make power upgrades difficult
No doubt Tesla is way ahead in the EV market, but NIO has made battery swapping a viable option, where Tesla had tried but abandoned this technology years ago.
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