Geely is aiming to set up 5,000 battery swapping stations for electric vehicles – mainly in China – by 2025.
Geely Holding subsidiary company, Geely Technology Group, showcased the battery swapping technology behind its battery swapping service, called E-Energee, at the 2021 Wuzhen Internet Conference.
Geely Technology Group began researching battery swapping technologies in 2017 as it grew its R&D team to over 1,000 people and registering hundreds of patents in the process for the operating service and also for the development of battery swap vehicle architectures.
The first battery swapping station from E-Energee came online in Chongqing in September 2020 and over the past 12 months, its service has expanded to include ten Chinese provinces with the goal of bringing 5,000 stations online across China by 2025.
Under the E-Energee service, drivers are able to swap their battery for a fully charged one within 59 seconds through automatic registration payment service that allows them to drive into the station and automatically swap the battery without users exiting the vehicle.
The current E-Energee service is predominantly used by mobility fleets who are able to have their electric vehicles running with greater efficiency through the use of battery swap that cuts out longer charging times.
Analysts say that battery swapping could be a good solution for electric shared vehicle fleets in the future.
The primary use of these stations will be swapping empty batteries in cars with full charged batteries. Changing times are rapid Geely says – these stations complete the battery changing process in one minute – perfect for those in a rush, especially when compared to a fast charge that currently takes up to 30 minutes for a near 80% charge. For drivers of Geely’s CaoCao ride-hailing service, who are currently using the service, this could mean two or three extra fares, Geely maintains.