With the magnificent growing trend of EVs, surely, businessmen are seeing great business opportunities around it. But is it profitable and scalable? Let’s find out.
- Charging is still slow and painful.
From empty to fully charged, the fastest EV charging takes up to 30 minutes while some other EVs can take 60 to 90 minutes. So the busiest changing time should be around 6am to 10pm. It is only 16 hours per day!. If the charging time for all EVs is 30 minutes, that means in 1 day, each charging station can only charge 32 EVs. Pumping gasoline (petrol) will only take 5 minutes. That is a painful number if we’re comparing it with a gas station that can fill up 192 vehicles, since it takes 5 minutes from empty-to-full for each car. - Slow and slower
Since charging time is painfully slow, most drivers and passengers usually take some leisure time to eat or go shopping while waiting for the EV to charge up. By the time the EV is fully-charged, they don’t immediately leave. So, even with the fastest charging method available today, a 30 minutes charging time can turn into 60! Hence, during the busiest hours it can only serve up to 16 EVs. - Limited by the current charging methods, the charging station is not scalable.
Should technology present itself with newer tech such as ultra-charging or extreme-charging, charging stations must be heavily modified or replaced by new ones. This is another cost just to try to catch up with the latest charging technology. And surely, you would always go to the newer fast charging station, wouldn’t you? - Do I really need to go to the charging station?
People can charge their EV at home overnight. But people can’t get their gasoline at home. Most EV owners will charge overnight at home and only go to the charging station when lack of planning or on a road trip.
Battery swap is the future because it is the best business model. This is why:
- Faster charging time. With only 5-10 minutes to get fully charged, drivers are expected to be near their cars. Once the car is ready, they can drive away.
- Bad battery can be swapped and refurbished
- Bad battery can be analyzed and the data can be sent to battery manufacturers
- Getting a newer type of battery is possible when it is available
Nio Battery Swap Station
#NIO #Tesla #EV #EVCHARGINGSTATION #EVCHARGER #Toyota #Honda
