On January 18, TIMES Electric Service under CATL officially released the power exchange brand "EVOGO Lexing Power Exchange". The brand's battery swap service consists of battery swapper, substation and APP. The brand will be built for all car companies and can support A00-C passenger cars and logistics vehicles.
The first co-operative model is a replacement version of the FAW Besturn NAT combination, and at least two more products will be released within the year. The power exchange brand will take the lead in selecting 10 cities as the first batch of layout areas.
The battery swap used by EVOGO is named "Chocolate Switch", which uses CTP technology and has the characteristics of small but high energy. Each exchange block has a weight energy density of 160Wh/kg, a volumetric energy density of 325Wh/L, and a cruising range of about 200km.
(Chocolate replacement block / Source: Ningde times official)
The substation power station built by EVOGO Lexing Power Exchange has the characteristics of small area, large capacity, fast circulation and all-climate. A single substation covers an area of about 3 parking spaces, can accommodate 48 power exchange blocks, complete the power exchange in the fastest 1 minute, and support different climatic environments.
With the help of the mobile app, users can choose to load 1-3 power exchange blocks for their vehicles on demand. For example, in the city, you may only need 1 battery, and when running a long distance, you need to load 3 batteries to expand the maximum mileage to about 600km, and then change back to 1 battery after the end of the long-distance peer.
In addition, models equipped with this replacement block can also be charged on household charging piles and fast charging piles. After each replacement block is replaced, more than 200 tests will be carried out at the replacement station to ensure battery safety.
The layout of the CATL era in the field of power exchange began in 2020.
In August 2020, the company joined hands with WEILAI Automobile and Guotai Junan to establish Wuhan Weineng Battery Asset Co., Ltd. to promote the development of the new business model of "separation of vehicle and electricity", and launched the BaaS (Battery as a Service, battery rental service) business on this basis.
At the annual performance briefing in May 2021, Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, said that the company believes that power replacement and fast charging are better than hydrogen energy in terms of economy and maturity, and is negotiating relevant cooperation with car companies. In July of the same year, CATL first established a subsidiary of Times Electric Service in Xiamen, Fujian Province, as the main bearer of the power exchange business.
In September 2021, CATL and Foton Motor signed an agreement to cooperate around Foton's full range of new energy commercial vehicles such as battery banking and substations. In December of that year, CATL signed an agreement with the Guizhou Provincial Government on cooperation in the construction of power exchange networks, and deepened cooperation in the construction of new energy vehicle power exchange network facilities and the improvement of new energy vehicle power exchange capacity.
At present, the main players in the power exchange market are Aodong New Energy and Weilai Automobile. According to the 2021 data of the Charging Alliance, Weilai already has 789 substations, accounting for 60.8%; 402 substations under Aodong, accounting for 31.0%; Hangzhou Botan has 107 substations, accounting for 8.2%.
The head replacement service provider has also formulated a more aggressive development plan, reflecting its long-term optimism about this market. NIO plans to expand the number of substations to 1,300 by the end of 2022; Aodong New Energy said it will expand the number of substations to 10,000 in 2025 through the cooperation model.
Policy support is one of the important factors for major enterprises to be optimistic about the power exchange industry.
In 2021, the government work report once again mentioned that facilities such as substations should be added. In May of that year, the National Energy Administration, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, studied and formulated the Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Service Guarantee Capacity of Charging and Replacing Infrastructure (Draft for Comments), proposing to accelerate the promotion and application of the power exchange model and support the construction of special replacement power stations.
In October 2021, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Notice on Launching the Pilot Application of the New Energy Vehicle Power Exchange Mode, and decided to start the pilot work of the application of the new energy vehicle power exchange mode. There are 11 cities included in the scope of the pilot, including 8 cities with comprehensive application (Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Sanya, Chongqing, Changchun, Hefei, Jinan), and 3 cities with heavy truck characteristics (Yibin, Tangshan, Baotou).