Objective of Task

The main objective of this task is to investigate the influences of battery swapping employment on battery chemistry, grid infrastructure, environment, and business model, strengthen the global information exchange on battery swapping technology, help the formation of battery swapping ecosystem and traceability mechanism, and offer suggestions for policy makers and stakeholders.

There have been massive arguments on battery swapping, some typical examples are:

• Non-uniformity and poor reliability of battery swapping interface
• Difficulty in unifying battery design, structure to achieve common use for different models
• Immaturity and high cost of battery swapping station construction
• Inefficient resource utilization due to lack of method to decide station location/number of batteries equipped and charging time
• Responsibility partition in case of safety problems

This task will focus on the research and communication on the technology, application, standard and business model of battery swapping, analyzing battery assets whole life cycle management and battery swapping technology evolution, and shining light on the above-mentioned arguments.

Working Method

The task will cover battery swapping in the segments of two/three-wheelers, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and ships. To achieve the main objectives, the following methods will be adopted:

• Conducting survey and research. Survey and research on the status of battery swapping technology will be carried out in various countries and segments to get first-hand information of the industry and share the latest data and information.
• Collaboration with existing task groups. Experience and information can be learned from the work from below ongoing tasks:

• Task 30 Assessment of Environmental Effects of Electric Vehicles
• Task 32 Small Electric Vehicles
• Task 34 Batteries
• Task 38 Marine Applications (e-Ships)
• Task 41 Electric Freight Vehicles
• Task 43 Vehicle/Grid Integration

• Establishing a project working group. This task will invite representatives of industry (e.g., battery manufacturers, automotive OEM, battery swapping station operator, battery asset management company) and research institutions from each member country to carry out relevant research work.
• Organize international information exchange and seminar meetings. Conducted in the form of face-to-face or remote video, upstream and downstream stakeholders in the battery swapping industry will be invited to discuss technology development and explore business models.
• Promote cooperative demonstration projects among member countries to exhibit the development of battery swapping technology and commercial operation models.

The operating agent will organize two conferences (one in summer and one in winter) per year with each conference lasts for 1-3 days. The conference can be held in different member countries each time, to facilitate technical demonstrations and plant visits.

Tasks to be executed (non-exhaustive):

• Investigate latest status of battery swapping technology and analyze how it can help drive the development of the new energy industry, including battery, grid, and energy storage industries.
• Encourage and support the development and application of battery swapping technologies and promote the construction of demonstration projects for battery swapping plants.
• Define and reach consensus on battery materials and structures, battery swapping modes and interfaces related to battery swapping technology and provide references for the development of relevant international standards.
• Research the whole life cycle carbon footprint calculation method of power battery under the battery swapping mode, accumulate basic data and establish a shared database.
• Carry out international technical cooperation, establish a global technical information exchange platform, and realize information sharing among industries and research institutions engaged in research on battery swapping technology.
• Establish a battery swapping ecosystem and explore a mature and sustainable commercial operation model.
• Research on the full life cycle traceability mechanism and block chain of batteries in the battery swapping mode.