The Korea Automobile Research Institute (KARI) published a report stating that battery swapping has potential as a technology to complement the shortcomings of wired charging, but its necessity may be limited considering current technology and market conditions.

The Korea Automobile Research Institute (KATECH) published Industry Trend Vol. 121 on the 25th with the theme of “Possibility and Necessity of Battery-Swappable Electric Vehicles” and reported that while battery-swappable electric vehicles are evaluated as capable of complementing issues such as charging time, power load management, and battery recovery, their necessity is weakening as wired charging technology has recently developed.

Typically, battery swaps take about five minutes, which is a significant reduction from wired charging, which can take tens of minutes or more, but the gap is narrowing as rapid charging technology advances.

For example, vehicles based on the Hyundai Motor Group's E-GMP platform can charge their batteries from 10% to 80% in about 18 minutes, offsetting the disadvantages of wired charging.

Hanjayun analyzed that while it is highly likely that large electric commercial vehicles will adopt a battery swap system, the actual necessity will vary depending on the legally required rest time regulations for drivers in major countries.

In Korea, drivers who drive a truck for more than two hours continuously are required to take a break for at least 15 minutes; in Japan, drivers who drive a truck for more than four hours continuously are required to take a break for at least 30 minutes; and in China, drivers who drive a car for more than four hours continuously are required to take a break for at least 20 minutes.

Large-scale warfare under development in the US and EuropeThe standards for rapid charging of electric vehicles aim to charge more than 70% during the mandatory rest period, and when these standards are released, the difference in operating rates between wired charging and swapping is expected to be small.

In addition, there was an accident at the end of last month in which the battery of a Chinese Geely car-hailing vehicle detached while driving, and there are ongoing concerns that the joint may become damaged or worn out during repeated battery replacement, which could lead to safety issues.

It was also raised that issues such as consumer acceptance, standardization, and safety of battery exchange and subscription services are difficult to resolve in the short term.

Lee Seo-hyun, a senior researcher at Hanja Industrial Analysis Lab who wrote the report, analyzed, “There are ways to promote battery recovery, such as applying connected technology to track battery locations and providing compensation for cooperation in battery recovery, but electric vehicle manufacturers are likely to prefer the highly profitable exchange and subscription service (BaaS) method.”

There is also the regret that it is difficult to cross-use battery exchange stations between electric vehicles from different manufacturers because the specifications have not yet been standardized.

Companies such as China's CATL and the US' Ample are developing modular battery exchange solutions and promoting standardization, but there are limitations.

Ample claims that lowering module capacity reduces the cost of installing a switching station and makes it compatible with a wider range of vehicles, but since dozens of modules need to be swapped out to supply the amount of power required for a typical electric vehicle, the swapping time is longer and these advantages are diluted, according to Senior Researcher Lee Seo-hyun.