INFRADianba
Batteriewechsel

Facts versus prejudices

How does the battery swap technology work?

The battery swap for e-cars up to 3.5 t takes place in a drive-through process and is technically possible in 20 seconds. Through a swap frame in the vehicle floor, a robot removes the used battery and replaces it with a charged battery. Compatibility is ensured by a universal housing.

What is the advantage of battery swap technology compared to plug-in infrastructure?

Battery swap stations can be installed and connected to the medium-voltage grid at existing service/filling station locations within a very short time, in contrast to the lengthy and expensive local grid expansion. This saves costs, time and social stress. A rapid mobility turnaround is suddenly possible.

The fast swapping time (20 seconds) makes it possible to handle up to 1000 customers per day and station and leads to high volume discounts on electricity purchases. The kWh price per end customer can thus be reduced to about 30-35 cents. The batteries are recharged with at least 0.5 C, i.e., in a maximum of 2 hours. This conserves batteries and grids, which also reduces costs. Charging piles will thus become largely superfluous.

How does the INFRADianba technology differ from other European battery swap providers (Nio, Geely, etc.)?

Our Aulton Dianba technology offers completely car brand neutral and battery brand neutral swap stations. This is made possible by our battery universal housing, a standard 14 OEMs have already agreed on, including VW partner SAIC and Daimler Benz partner BAIC. Each manufacturer can install its own special battery in this universal housing. It is even possible for the customer to request a special type of battery in our stations when it comes to car brands with high scaling.

What are the advantages of battery leasing compared to battery purchase?

Batteries are the "long-life hearts" of our e-vehicle. The swapping system ensures that they are continuously and gently made ready for operation and that they are regularly checked using lightwave controlling. The batteries are leased for the usage cycle, the ongoing risks for operation and wear are borne by the battery operator and no longer by the car owner. The operator is the main addressee for all warranty and liability issues. Leasing is therefore considerably more cost-effective for the customer than purchasing.

Are the technical requirements in place for European OEMs to enter the battery swap market?

The modular design of European OEMs easily allows swap frame modules for the vehicle floor. In China it is possible to immediately acquire information on site about the installation of swap frames at minimum cost.

What battery storage capacity/ How many exchange batteries are required to operate a station?

The batteries are taken to the station by the e-mobile users themselves (subsidiarity principle). For 1,000 swaps per day (with a dispatch time of one minute with Aulton Dianba), only an extra storage of 60 exchangeable batteries is needed, to be provided once as an initial storage unit when the station is installed. This additional requirement is far outweighed by the positive lifetime effects of the system (factor 2-3.5). (The full scope of a nationwide plug-in grid, on the other hand, will only be possible after decades of local grid expansion costing many billions of euros).

Can battery swapping become established even without government subsidies?

Given the naturally low prices for swap cars (without batteries!) and for battery power (very cheap power purchase due to high frequency and large customer numbers!), we can see no reason for the thesis that this technology will only catch on with government subsidies! If battery swap continues to be 10 times faster than any other fast charging and costs only 50% per kWh of what you have to spend for plug-in fast charging, then it will prevail in the market without question. After all, customers today are very well able to differentiate between concrete advantages and bogus arguments suggested by the competition.

Which international car manufacturers now rely on the battery swap technology?

14 international car manufacturers already rely on Aulton Dianba's technology, and the trend is rising. Filling station giants such as SINOPEC and BP have now decided to install Aulton's brand-neutral swapping stations at thousands of their sites. Three vehicle manufacturers want to build their own station network exclusively for their changeover cars.

Who is the battery swap for?

The ideal battery swap station operators are e-filling station operators and operators of professional fleets. They can acquire or lease stations in different sizes, according to their needs.

The INFRADianba pilot project involves the electrification of Berlin’s taxi traffic. What else is necessary for this to happen?

A first-class basic infrastructure for the electrification of Berlin's taxi traffic can be established in up to 7 years with a maximum of 30 express swap stations. For this, we need 30 locations with at least 10 kV connections. If the Senate helps with this, the taxi drivers will join in. The taxi guild has long been ready. Other e-fleet operators will quickly follow. If necessary, e-cars can also be converted to battery swaps.

What potential does this technology offer?

Express battery swapping is the start of a new way of thinking: the system ensures an extended battery life that will not only be used for e-cars, but also for system services in the grid. This is made possible by the fact that 50 MW per day of car batteries can be accumulated per station. Of this, 15 MW per day can directly be diverted for grid storage purposes with the help of an auxiliary storage unit. This results in additional income and price advantages. Customers' batteries can even improve in performance as a result, due to lack of battery stress and the beneficial effects of primary control energy.

There are already numerous battery swap stations for e-cars in China. Why are we so hesitant?

In China, INFRADianba partner Aulton will install around 10,000 battery swap stations for ten million e-vehicles by 2025. There, the big cities want to rely on this technology because it is faster, cheaper and less complicated. In Germany, they want to find an even better way to become world leaders in the mobility sector. A 20-second technical swapping time, kWh prices below 40 cents and minimal network expansion are the benchmarks for any innovation here. We believe that this cannot be surpassed, and in Berlin we are specializing in initiating the next leap: E-filling stations should also serve as battery power plants.

To date, only a limited number of ca manufacturers support swap systems in their e-cars. Why is that?

In China, 80% of the car manufacturers are already switching to battery swapping. In Europe, MG and Renault, for example, pursue this new course.

The question is: When will express battery swapping become established in Europe? The answer: when the highly dynamic lead market China forces the European OEMs to offer battery swaps in Asia as well, thus finally enabling them to launch their own attractive battery swap vehicles in Europe. Then their resistance and anti-lobbying will gradually cease.