A Fully Charged EV Battery in 5 Minutes? This Automaker Says It Has the Solution

pcmag.com:

Chinese automaker NIO is touting the success of its unique approach to replenishing electric vehicle batteries: Swapping depleted batteries for new ones in just minutes rather than having drivers plug in and wait to recharge.

Drivers low on power park inside a small, roofed roadside stations. Then, sensors inside detect the vehicle's presence and mechanical arms automatically reach under the vehicle, remove the battery, and replace it with a fresh one in just a few minutes.

"Battery swap stations which enable the vehicle to automatically park into the station and switch for a fresh, fully-charged unit in under five minutes," NIO says(Opens in a new window). Its vehicles can only be found in China and Europe, with plans to enter the US market in 2025, South China Morning Post reports(Opens in a new window).

This makes the time spent charging more similar to refilling a gas tank, as opposed to the 20-60 minutes EV drivers spend charging on road trips today—arguably the main drawback of and barrier to the shift to battery power.

NIO launched in 2014 with the goal of proving that battery swapping could solve charge time concerns. Critics were skeptical, with a Tesla spokesperson at one point dubbing the approach "riddled with problems and not suitable for widescale use," Reuters reports(Opens in a new window).

However, NIO says(Opens in a new window) its model is a hit with customers, who have travelled a collective 6.2 billion miles (10 billion kilometers), the company says. Along the way, 60% of them have opted for battery swapping at one of 1,383 Power Swap Stations in China and Europe.

"At present, a swap takes place on average, every 1.6 seconds," NIO says. Its third-generation stations are capable of 408 swaps per