Berlin-based EV battery-swap effort targets taxis

Berlin airport will host a brand-neutral battery-swap facility for electric cars starting in mid-2023 as part of a Chinese push to get Europeans hooked on the technology.

The swap station, with a claimed 20-second turnaround time, is a combined effort that involves two Chinese companies, battery swap specialist Aulton Dianba and vehicle maker MG, as well as France's TotalEnergies. The swapping location will be added to TotalEnergies' fuel station near the airport.

The station is operated by InfraDianba, a German joint venture 50 percent owned by Aulton Dianba, and is capable of 480 swaps a day.

The process has undergone a three-year trial in Germany using two MG5 electric station wagons equipped with Aulton Dianba's battery swap technology.

The partners initially are targeting Berlin's 4,000-vehicle taxi fleet, but the long-term goal is to make battery swapping a mainstream alternative to charging.

“The charge-point network will not be able to solve the problem of e-mobility. We require a different solution,” an InfraDianba spokesperson told Automotive News Europe.

Aulton Dianba's swap technology involves slotting the replacement battery into position, rather than unscrewing it, a method employed by Chinese EV startup Nio, which aims to build its own battery swap network in Germany as part of its market entry planned for later this year.

InfraDianba's station will have 30 50-kilowatt-hour battery packs on site for swapping.

The site's promised 20-second swap times are likely to increase when vehicle positioning times are added to the equation.

Despite this, it's likely the total time of a swap would beat the five minute end-to-end time Automotive News Europe clocked earlier this year at Nio's first European swap station in Norway, which opened late 2021.

Nio said last year it intends to build 4,000 battery swap stations by 2025, including 1,000 outside China.

While Nio's swap technology is specific to its own cars, Aulton Dianba said it has signed agreements with 14 Chinese automakers including MG parent SAIC, FAW, Changan and GAC to incorporate its swap system within their electric cars.

The company claims to have 610 swap stations in China.

Battery company CATL, meanwhile, launched its own battery-swap service in January that will extend to 10 cities around China under the badge EVOGO.

InfraDianba has the endorsement of Berlin Taxi Guild Chairman Leszek Nadolski, who has called for local authorities to help fund 30 swap stations and promote taxis with the technology to help shift the German capitol's entire fleet to electric models in five years.

The hurdle InfraDianba faces is persuading Chinese automakers to launch cars equipped with the technology in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

MG also has to homologate a version of the MG5 with swappable technology.

Outside of taxi fleets, MG is unconvinced there is a wider market for battery swapping.

“You need predictable journeys like taxis or delivery vehicles, otherwise it's not cost-effective,” a source within MG said, on condition of anonymity. “You would need to have huge coverage with consumer vehicles to make it work.”

InfraDianba also needs to partner with a finance company to lease batteries to taxi drivers as part of its strategy, something the company has yet to achieve.

Battery swapping is back on the agenda in Europe after the failure of Renault-backed Israeli company Better Place in 2013 to create a European network of stations.

Renault has since signaled it is ready to give the idea another try.

"From a business point of view, there is a [good reason] to separate the battery from the car, especially if you are handling the second and third life of the battery," CEO Luca de Meo said last year. "We have done the math and asked engineers to find a solution to go back to the original idea that was pioneered by Renault."