Tesla’s Battery Supplier Starts its Own Swap-Out Service
Tesla’s Chinese battery supplier has opened it’s first battery swap stations in the city of Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian Province.
The stations are run under Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited’s (CATL’s) wholly owned battery swap service Evogo. The company hopes to mirror the success of Tesla rival NIO which has already opened hundreds of swap stations in China and is planning to bring its cars and battery swap service to Europe.
Evogo’s first four fast battery swap stations that have started operation are located in Siming District, Huli District and Haicang District of Xiamen. The number of fast battery swap stations in Xiamen is expected to increase to 30 by the end of this year, when drivers at any place on Xiamen Island can find one such station within a radius of a couple of miles.
At present, the special offer for renting one Choco-SEB block is RMB 399 per month ($62.60), which will be adjusted according to different levels of power consumption by users. For each battery swap service at the swap station, the charge is almost the same as that of the fast-charging service and it is subject to dynamic adjustment according to different station locations and time slots.
In the future, CATL hopes to sign up more partners to release more Evogo compliant vehicle models and deliver its services in more cities.
— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_
