This is the first time I’ve seen Nio talk about providing load balancing from swap stations. I used to agree with Rory Reid’s arguments about cost, ownership and compatibility but after this and the recent partnerships with Geely and Changan, I think there’s a decent chance they could be viable in large, dense urban areas. Not many of those in Europe though outside London, Randstad, Rhine-Ruhr and Northern Italy.
First - Love a bit of Tom Scott in these parts, I’ll be sad when he stops posting weekly.
I was impressed with this video and the partnerships he mentioned with Geely etc. Call me old-fashioned but we’ve seen the uproar around subscriptions for premium features in some cars, I just don’t see how owning a car without a battery would win enough people over. EV’s have a steep enough adoption curve as it is without needing to add more complexity to the decision.
The future for electric cars is battery swapping,I have absolutely no doubt about that. What I mean by that is that people who live in flats etc. will just swap the battery at the local fuel station much like fuelling up your car at the moment. This method will take a massive slice of the market.
His last video just went live which was a sad moment!
I can see both sides of the argument. The service would have to be exceptional. Renault’s battery lease for the Zoe seems to have been fairly popular. I know many people in less developed, urbanised countries just cannot see the EV transition happening there precisely because home charging is impractical.
I think it’s probably part of the solution, but we need better infrastructure across the board and, frankly, better transit options in cities so people in urban areas are less reliant on cars in the first place!