Will swapping out electric car batteries catch on?

The electric car is able to reverse itself without the assistance of a steering wheel.

The battery will be swapped for a fresh one at this facility in Norway belonging to Chinese electric carmaker, Nio.

The new Power swap Station is Europe's first and it is already widespread in China.

The company hopes that changing out the entire battery will appeal to customers who don't like queueing to refill their batteries.

It was easy to book a slot on Nio's app, and once inside the station, all I have to do is park on the designated markings and wait in the car.

I can hear bolts being undone as the battery is automatically removed from underneath the vehicle and replaced with a fully- charged one.

I am ready to go again in less than five minutes.

You aren't standing outside and taking 30 to 40 minutes like you do when you're tired. Espen Byrjall, Nio's power and operations manager in Norway, says it is more effective.

There is no battery degradation. You always have a good battery. You can keep the cars longer.

The firm plans to create 20 swaps here in Norway, and this station can handle up to 120 swaps a day.

The network will be rolled out across Europe with the aim of installing 1000 by 2025.

The business model the firm is pursuing is a different one from Nio's flashy showroom in central Norway.

There are several advantages to this approach according to the general manager of the firm.

The battery is not the most expensive part of an electric car. The purchase price was knocked down to $9,700.

Depending on the size of the battery, a buyer has to factor in the monthly subscription for it.

Mr Hayler says that with that cost comes another advantage.

Nio is one of the latest Chinese arrivals to enter Norway, along with other newcomers like Xpeng, Voyah, and Hongqi.

The country has half a million electric vehicles on the roads and it wants all new cars to be zero emission by the year 2025.

In the first three months of this year, 83% of all new cars sold were fully electric, while only 6 percent had diesel or petrol engines.

The director of the Norwegian Road Federation lobby group says that Norway has been used as a test market.

It is obvious that the Chinese brands will come here. We have a lot of incentives for electric cars.

Image source, Getty Images

Norway achieved the highest rate of EV adoption in the world because of low taxes on electric vehicles, widespread charging infrastructure, and perks.

Nio sold more than 90,000 cars last year, almost all of them in China, where it already operates more than 800 battery swapping stations.

The newcomer plans to enter several countries this year, but sales in Norway are still in the hundreds.

The firm doesn't share its battery swapping stations with other manufacturers, but has suggested it would be open to other manufacturers to use the technology.

That could help popularise the system further so it can take off in Europe.

A system that allows smaller and lighter batteries to be used could help improve vehicle efficiency, according to an analyst.

As fast-charging points are becoming more common, he is skeptical as to whether battery swaps will be widely adopted in Europe.

The horse has bolted and the fast-charging network will be key going forward.

He thinks that the technology could be useful for sectors like taxis, where short downtimes are important.

Better Place, an Israeli firm, went bankrupt a decade ago after launching a similar innovation. The concept was piloted by the company but not pursued.

Mr Hayler thinks the timing was too early for these firms.

Other firms are using a battery swapping model despite the early failures.

The battery manufacturer CATL has also developed a facility called EVOGO, which is a system for storing batteries.

Image source, Geely

Ample, a California start-up, is working on similar technology, and Honda, Yamaha and Piaggio are also teaming-up to offer switchable batteries for electric motorbikes and light vehicles.

Customers who cannot easily charge their cars at night might be attracted to swap.

There are more apartments in China than in Northern Europe. Mr Hayler says that they use the power swap station to charge their car.

In Europe, it is more common to have a driveway with home-charging on it. The swap station might be used to upgrade or downgrade the battery type.

Installation of battery- swapping infrastructure is more expensive than charge points. There may be no need to swap batteries in the future.

In April, a Mercedes-Benz drove 1,000 km on a single charge.

Nio is not only betting on battery swaps, it is also installing home and road charging stations.