Industry Regulators Take Charge to Promote EV Battery Swap Safety, NIO Set to Emerge as Biggest Winner?

The GB/T “Electric Vehicle Battery Swap Safety Requirements” drafted by Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. (BJEV), NIO, China Automotive Technology & Research Center, and other units have all cleared scrutiny at the 2020 standards review conference on Aug.12 in Shenzhen, China.

The conference was held by the electric vehicle sub-bidder committee of the National Technical Committee of Auto Standardization (NTCAS). The formulation of the standard is expected to provide guidance for the healthy and safe development of the battery-swap electric vehicle industry.

GB/T “Electric Vehicle Battery Swap Safety Requirements” regards the built-up vehicle, battery swap system, battery pack, battery swap mechanism, battery swap interface and other key elements as the research objects. The standards review then fully analyzes the battery swap process including potential failure modes as the vehicle drives, determines the general safety requirements of the battery swap vehicle, and proposes corresponding test and detection methods, Chinese media OFweek reported.

According to the standard, the analysis of differences between various technical solutions, actual vehicle operating scenarios and operating data, the minimum battery exchange requirements of 5000 times (snap-type) and 1500 (bolt-type) are specified to ensure the safety of the user when changing the battery throughout the vehicle’s service life.

SEE ALSO: NIO Said to Establish Battery Asset Management Company, CALT Expected to Invest

At present, the promotion and application of battery swapping vehicles within the market have begun to take shape. Leading domestic EV manufacturer NIO, for example, has nearly competed a development path for battery swapping models.

Pandaily reported earlier that NIO has been mapping out a plan to establish a battery asset management company in August, in order to promote its batter swap technology and launch BaaS (Battery as a Service) products. Furthermore, NIO is purportedly the sole domestic EV manufacturer to enjoy a government subsidy for vehicles above a threshold price of 30,000 yuan.