A new Battery Swapping Solution for Cars in China and Beyond - CATL's EVOGO

The Chinese market has witnessed a steady growth in the sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), but with this growth comes new challenges, such as refuelling. To help overcome the problems of range anxiety and the inconvenience of refuelling, the Chinese EV battery maker CATL has rolled out its battery swap solution, EVOGO, featuring modular battery swapping.

EVOGO is a solution by Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology Ltd. (CAES), a wholly owned subsidiary of CATL. One might wonder what led to the creation of a separate entity to release a solution, which is in a similar space to what CATL already does.

The answer to this came from a press statement that the company released at the launch of EVOGO in January, 2022.

It said: 'CATL's corporate vision includes striving to be a global premier innovative technology corporation and delivering excellent contribution to green energy resolution for mankind. The establishment of CAES helps CATL complete the closed loop of battery life cycle value chain that ranges from development, manufacturing, using to recycling, offers a whole new driving experience for NEV customers, and promotes electric mobility and the efficient use of resources'.

EVOGO comprises battery blocks, fast battery swap stations and an app.

Throwing light on how this innovative solution works, the technology behind its battery swapping platform, and the technical capabilities of its battery packs and swapping stations, a CAES spokesperson told Auto Futures: “The core of the EVOGO modular battery swap solution is the standard battery ‘Choco-SEB’ or the swapping electric block, which can be mass-produced as the shared product for battery swapping. Supported by CATL’s latest Cell To Pack (CTP) technology, Choco-SEB could be swapped in fast speed, and is designed to suit most passenger cars and logistics vehicles developed on BEV platforms."

"At the same time, Choco-SEB could meet the requirements of no thermal runaway propagation by adopting reliable thermal management design. Our EVOGO smart fast battery swap station adopts fully flexible RGV battery swapping technology, allows one-minute swapping for a single battery block, and it can house up to 48 Choco-SEBs in one station, which enables a daily service capacity of 600 swaps," they add.

The EVOGO modular battery swap solution is based on the separation of vehicle and battery. Compared with other power refuelling solutions on the market, it stands out with several characteristics.

"For starters, it has high compatibility. Designed to look like a bar of chocolate, the standard battery block, Choco-SEB, is compatible with vehicle models manufactured by different brands, including most passenger cars and logistics vehicles developed on BEV platforms. And the swap stations can match all vehicle models by different OEMs that use Choco-SEBs, providing more choices of vehicle models for battery swaps,” they explain.

"Second, EVOGO offers need-based battery rental, allowing customers to choose the number of battery blocks to rent according to their driving scenarios and habits. They could choose to rent 1-3 battery blocks by logging in to the EVOGO APP to achieve the freedom of power consumption. And finally, EVOGO offers dual choice, refuelling of charging and swapping. EVOGO-based models support both charging and battery swapping for refuelling. Together with the existing household charging and fast charging, EVOGO helps provide an all-scenario refuelling solution, enabling every EVOGO user to refuel at the nearest location conveniently.”

The Business of Battery Swapping

CATL has annoucned that EVOGO would be first launched in ten Chinese cities including Xiamen, Hefei and Guiyang.

"We will promote the construction of battery swap stations in an orderly manner according to business strategies and market demand. The efficient and convenient power refuelling experience brought by EVOGO has been widely recognised by city partners and consumers. The highest battery swapping rate in EVOGO cities has reached 90%,” says the CAES spokesperson.

EVOGO battery swapping network currently adopts two modes of operation, which is self-operation and partnership. The company’s main businesses are battery rental and battery swapping services. It provides consumers with flexible rental solutions allowing customers to choose the number of battery blocks to rent according to their driving scenarios and habits, thus greatly reducing the cost.

When asked what are some challenges that EVOGO currently faces, the CAES spokesperson explains: “EVOGO battery swapping service has made progress in some cities in China, but as a type of energy refuelling infrastructure, it needs considerable amount of land and power resources to form a reliable and convenient service network, which will take some time to negotiate and resolve.

But they add that the government has been playing an active role in the proliferation of battery swapping companies by extending support on multiple fronts.

“The Chinese government encourages and supports the development of battery swapping. Some cities have introduced a number of policies to support battery swapping, which provides a better basis for the promotion and application of EVOGO and the business of battery swapping in cities.” 

A Growing Family

In 2022, CAES signed a framework agreement with Aiways on the EVOGO battery swap cooperation. Based on the agreement, both companies will jointly expand the business of vehicle-battery separation.

When asked about CAES’s co-operation with Aiways, the spokesperson explains: “According to the agreement, we will develop an EVOGO battery swap model based on Aiways U5. We have also jointly developed modular battery swap versions of Bestune NAT and Dongfeng Fukang ES600 with FAW Group and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile (DPCA) respectively. EVOGO is still in talks with other car manufacturers, and we will make an announcement if there are any updates.”

In a press statement, Chen Weifeng, general manager of CAES, said, “We are glad that Aiways has joined our EVOGO family. We will promote the construction of the battery swap network and join hands to expand the battery swap service market. Let's go with EVOGO."

 "Aiways will join forces with CATL to make full use of our advantages in technology, resources and services to optimize our respective resources," added Charlie Zhang, CEO of Aiways. "We are also expanding our overseas footprint in battery swapping by combining the modes of charging and swapping in a bid to meet the diverse refueling needs of global EV users and offer them the best refueling experience."

Battery swapping as a solution has tremendous potential, not just in China, but the world over. As more ICE car owners make the switch to electric, concerns such as limited charging infrastructure and range anxiety will be widespread. This could lead to great opportunities for the likes of EVOGO.

The CAES spokesperson agrees: “We welcome companies from all over the world to cooperate with us.”