Full range in a minute, i.e. the EVOGO battery replacement service from the giant

Some people believe in hydrogen, others in batteries, and others in special battery replacement stations that solve one of the biggest problems of batteries – charging time. The Chinese company CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology), which is the largest producer of batteries for electric vehicles, knows this very well, and last Tuesday (January 18) launched its own EVOGO battery replacement service.

The EVOGO battery replacement service from CATL aims to lower costs and increase the popularity of electric vehicles

Playing with changing batteries in vehicles from discharged to charged has both advantages and disadvantages, the greatest of which is by far the issue of compatibility. Vehicles must offer simple and quick disassembly and assembly systems, and additionally safe, which immediately shows the biggest problem of the EVOGO service.

CATL stations are currently compatible with only one vehicle – Bestune NAT EV from FAW Group, though that is expected to improve over time. Therefore, the producers of the cars themselves, such as NIO, have great potential, which since 2000 has been developing its battery replacement stations and already has over 700 of them in China.

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Battery replacement stations mean that the batteries in vehicles are no longer the property of the vehicle owner, and are no longer a “public good”, as even the CEO of CATL himself emphasized. In addition, they can reduce the fear of being out of range among BEV opponents and the problem of long stops, as the entire process of replacing a discharged battery with a fully charged one should take less than refueling (less than a minute). The EVOGO service can also reduce the costs of purchasing and operating an electric vehicle.