Breaking the range curse: battery replacement technology helps new energy vehicles take off

　　This battery pack will be part of the "Mobile Power World" exhibition, emphasizing the replaceability of batteries and intelligent energy management. In addition to portable and replaceable battery packs, Honda will also launch a battery switch concept, which also means that mobile power will be able to store and recharge. Honda's two latest concept cars, Urban EV and Sport EV, will also be equipped with intelligent power management systems. It is worth looking forward to how the electric vehicles on display will broaden the definition of the "Mobile Power World". Let's follow the automotive electronics editor to learn about the relevant content.

 Breaking the range curse: battery replacement technology helps new energy vehicles take off

　　Current challenges facing electric vehicle batteries:

　　As we all know, electric vehicles have been vigorously promoted in recent years due to their zero emissions, low noise, and low cost of use. Major automobile manufacturing countries such as Europe have listed new energy vehicles as their future development goals, and fuel vehicles have been included in the ban schedule. In China, new energy vehicles have risen to the height of national strategic development. In addition to vigorously encouraging the development of new energy vehicles and investing a lot of money, China has also classified the research and development of electric vehicles as a key scientific research project during the "15th Five-Year Plan". This shows that governments and automobile manufacturers attach great importance to and have expectations for the new energy market.

　　Despite this, the new energy vehicle market still has problems such as low penetration rate, small sales volume and single user target, which is mainly caused by the difficulty in breaking through the core battery technology of electric vehicles. Fatal defects lead to the following shortcomings of electric vehicles. First, short driving range is a major drawback of new energy vehicles. At present, the most advanced lithium-ion battery has an "energy ratio" of only 1/50 of gasoline. Generally speaking, 50 liters of gasoline can drive a small car for 600 kilometers, while an electric car can travel 600 kilometers on a single charge. The required battery pack weighs one or two tons and generates a lot of high temperature when working. The current driving range of electric vehicles on a full charge is generally around 150 kilometers, and the maximum driving range is only 250 kilometers, which is a big gap compared to traditional cars. So at present, short driving range is a major reason why many people are reluctant to use new energy vehicles.

　　Second, charging time is long. There are two general ways to charge electric vehicles: fast charging at professional charging stations and charging with civilian electricity. It takes about 15-20 minutes to charge 80% of the battery at a professional charging station, and it takes 8 hours to charge the battery with civilian electricity. It only takes 3-5 minutes to fill a tank of gasoline for a traditional car.

　　Third, the maintenance cost of batteries is high. Since batteries will lose power every time they are charged and discharged, they need to be regularly maintained, and they need to be replaced with new batteries after a certain service life. This virtually increases the cost of using electric vehicles.

　　The above three shortcomings have seriously restricted the development and popularization of electric vehicles, resulting in the embarrassing situation of "hot on top and cold on the bottom" (that is, the government is enthusiastic, but the public is indifferent). It seems that it has become particularly necessary to find a development path suitable for the characteristics of electric vehicles. The core issue is to increase battery life and reduce costs. However, with current technical means, it is still difficult to break through the battery problem. At this time, replacing battery technology has become a good way to make up for the weakness.

 Breaking the range curse: battery replacement technology helps new energy vehicles take off

　　Battery replacement technology makes up for the shortcomings of electric vehicles

　　Battery replacement technology refers to the use of a set of professional battery replacement equipment to remove the empty battery that has been depleted from the electric vehicle and then replace it with a fully charged battery. This technology was first developed in Yokohama, Japan in May 2009, and its success is a milestone in accelerating the large-scale commercial operation of electric vehicles. The system is composed of two battery lifting and automatic control devices installed on an automatic track system. The design of the battery lifting and automatic control equipment is widely applicable to batteries of various models and sizes, which is convenient for various models of electric vehicles. The whole process of replacing the battery with this system takes about one minute in total. The whole set of actions is smooth and automatic, which is faster than filling a tank of gasoline in a traditional car. It provides electric car drivers with a cleaner, more convenient and faster experience.

　　Battery replacement technology has the following advantages. First, the battery can be replaced quickly. Generally, it takes 15-20 minutes to charge an electric car at a professional charging station, and 8-10 hours to charge it at home. The long charging time makes electric cars inconvenient to use. The application of battery replacement technology solves this problem very well. Replacing a battery is faster than filling a tank of gasoline for a traditional car, which only takes 1-2 minutes. It greatly facilitates the users of electric cars and solves the troubles caused by charging problems.

　　Second, the driving range of electric vehicles has been greatly increased. Generally, the driving range of electric vehicles is 100-250 kilometers after a full charge. Due to the limited driving range, the use range of electric vehicles is greatly restricted, and they cannot travel long distances like traditional cars. The emergence of battery replacement stations also makes up for this shortcoming. In addition, the promotion of battery replacement technology has greatly saved the cost of using electric vehicles, and is also conducive to the recycling of waste batteries and preventing secondary pollution to the environment.

 Breaking the range curse: battery replacement technology helps new energy vehicles take off

　　How is the battery replacement technology developing in my country?

　　As a major country in new energy vehicles, my country has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest new energy vehicle country. So what is the latest progress of battery replacement technology in my country? On November 3 this year, BAIC proposed the "Optimus Prime Plan", which is expected to invest 10 billion yuan by 2022 to build 3,000 photovoltaic storage and swap stations across the country, put into use a total of 500,000 battery swap vehicles, and use more than 5Gwh of cascade energy storage batteries. Through battery swap and battery reuse technology, the plan deeply integrates new energy vehicles, power batteries, swap stations, and photovoltaic power generation, builds an intensive, intelligent, and convenient green travel ecosystem, and realizes efficient use of energy resources throughout the life cycle of new energy vehicles.

　　As early as 2016, BAIC New Energy, Aulton New Energy and Shanghai Electric Bus started to operate and invest in battery swapping in Beijing and spread across the country. So far, BAIC New Energy has put more than 3,000 battery swapping vehicles into service in Beijing, Xiamen and Lanzhou. The release of this plan marks that the battery swapping model represented by BAIC New Energy has entered the "2.0 era" - the battery swapping station has been upgraded to a smart microgrid system of "battery swapping + energy storage + photovoltaic", and the energy storage equipment composed of recycled retired batteries can use photovoltaic power generation, peak and valley electricity of the State Grid, etc. to power the vehicle's power battery.

 Breaking the range curse: battery replacement technology helps new energy vehicles take off

　　summary:

　　The battery replacement technology of electric vehicles makes up for the inherent defects of electric vehicles, brings unlimited space for the development of electric vehicles, and also brings new breakthroughs to the future energy supply model. It can be foreseen that the future of the automobile industry is electric vehicles, and the future of electric vehicles is battery technology. The continuous breakthroughs in battery technology are no longer just a question of who can win the future market, but also a question related to the future strategic development of the country and even the world and the protection of energy security.

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