Abandoned by Tesla a decade earlier, battery swapping has not yet said its last word. The system is making a comeback in the West through Chinese manufacturers like Nio or the battery king, the giant CATL.
On June 21, 2013, a video made a big splash around Tesla. Elon Musk unveiled with great fanfare a station project that would allow replacing the Model S battery in about 90 seconds. The head of the American brand then joked about being able to "swap" two of his vehicles while a fill-up was carried out on a gasoline car in parallel.
After opening a first station and two years of testing, Tesla eventually pulled the plug — not only for cost reasons, but also due to lack of customer interest. "It's just that people don't care about battery swapping. Superchargers are fast enough [...] and [they are] free. So, why swap packs? It doesn't make much sense. [...]. And based on what we see here, it is unlikely to be something worth developing in the future, unless something changes," he told the American magazine "Road & Track".
On June 21, 2013, a video made a big splash around Tesla. Elon Musk unveiled with great fanfare a station project that would allow replacing the Model S battery in about 90 seconds.
Without Tesla, the technology was therefore temporarily buried in Western countries. But that was not the case everywhere in the world — particularly in China. In the Middle Kingdom, battery swapping remained a serious avenue for the future of electric mobility. The pioneer Nio, in particular, continued its investments in this area and is even beginning to deploy its technology in Europe, with already 60 energy swap stations operational in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
"Battery swapping — consisting of replacing depleted cells with fully charged cells — has enormous potential in Europe," believes Jiang Li, secretary of CATL's board of directors.
Towards the end of June, another player — also Chinese — announced large-scale plans, reinforcing that the concept of battery swapping really did have a future. This is CATL, the world's largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles.
Listed in Hong Kong in May, CATL aims to build 1,000 battery swapping stations by the end of the year in China, and 10,000 in the next three years. "We will then be able to copy the business model in Europe and other regions," Jiang Li explained to the Financial Times.
Secretary of CATL's board, he believes that battery swapping — consisting of replacing depleted cells with fully charged cells — has "huge potential" in Europe, notably to make batteries more affordable and more sustainable. But at this stage, no concrete timetable has been communicated by the Chinese giant.
For Numerama, specialist journalist Raphaëlle Baut believes this announcement is mainly a trial balloon, intended to probe the ground: "We are in a statement of intent, not yet in a concrete deployment phase. Europe remains a strategic market, but it is likely that CATL will first seek to consolidate this activity in China, rather than to revolutionize charging everywhere tomorrow," she explains.
The pioneer Nio, in particular, continued its investments in this area and is even beginning to deploy its technology in Europe, with already 60 energy swap stations operational in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Digging a little deeper, opinions differ regarding the potential of battery swapping. On LinkedIn, French professor Xavier Blot sets out the reasons that lead him now to believe in this model: "I think this model is extremely useful to ensure the vital circularity of the sector."
According to him, this system improves the sustainability of batteries thanks to centralized maintenance, while facilitating their reuse and recycling. It also allows rapid adoption of new technologies without requiring vehicle replacement. At the same time, it helps optimize grid management by smoothing demand and turning swapping stations into energy storage hubs.
By contrast, Geoffrey Orlando is more reserved, considering this technology more as a niche solution than as a generalizable model. "In the European and Swiss context, this solution remains unrealistic at large scale for several reasons. First, manufacturers have not adopted common standards for interchangeable batteries. Next, infrastructure costs remain very high for a still limited usage. Finally, rapid advances in ultra-fast charging make the concept less relevant," explains the head of French-speaking Switzerland at Swiss eMobility.
"Thanks to our five-minute battery swaps, we eliminate downtime, allowing Free2move to keep its vehicles in service, its customers on the move and its operations fully active," assures Khaled Hassounah, CEO of Ample.
The main challenge remains the profitability of the infrastructure required for battery swapping. At this stage, Nio's stations still have to prove themselves, not only in China, but especially in Europe, where the low number of Nio vehicles in circulation poses a problem. The Chinese manufacturer is currently one of the few market players to actually offer models designed for this type of swapping.
In an analysis, BNP Paribas estimated that the model would only become economically viable in the event of a strong increase in demand, with at least one third of electric vehicle drivers willing to adopt this solution. The room for growth therefore remains significant, even if CATL's announcement could act as a wake-up call.
In Europe, mindsets are changing rapidly. The Stellantis group in particular has launched a test phase in Spain with the Fiat brand. In collaboration with the companies Free2move and Ample, the Italian manufacturer is experimenting there with a fleet of 40 Fiat 500e.
"For car-sharing fleets, every minute spent off the road represents a loss of revenue. We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition to electric for Free2move — not only in theory, but also in daily operations. Thanks to our five-minute battery swaps, we eliminate downtime, allowing Free2move to keep its vehicles in service, its customers on the move and its operations fully active," Khaled Hassounah, CEO of Ample, said in a statement.
With companies like Battery Smart in India or the Taiwanese company Gogoro, the battery swapping system seems particularly promising for small vehicles, two- or three-wheelers. "Their riders don't want to wait for a full charge and their batteries have the advantage of being small and easy to replace," Heather Thompson, executive director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, a non-profit organization based in New York, told the FT.
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