Can the shared power exchange station with unified standards solve the deadlock of power exchange mode development？

The release of "Code for the Construction of Shared Substation for Electric Passenger Cars" is not to make all models the same, but to hope that manufacturers will take the initiative to try and make mistakes on the basis of this standard, strive to enhance the compatibility of different models, and finally select the best scheme through the market.

Director, Information Department, China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, Tongzong Banner

The vehicle slowly enters the parking platform of the power exchange station, and the lifting device lifts the whole vehicle upwards. The battery pack replacement equipment takes out the old battery under the chassis of the vehicle body, and puts in the new battery, and then lowers the vehicle body. After the staff check it, the vehicle can leave with full charge, and the whole process takes only a few minutes.

At present, there are more than 20,000 new energy electric taxis in Beijing that use this mode as a way to supplement their electricity, but the process is not always so smooth: a series of problems, such as fewer power stations, long distance and long waiting time, have made many drivers complain about this mode. However, it is not only the drivers who are suffering, but also the operators of power stations often complain that the income from operating power stations is not good enough to make ends meet. The power exchange mode that should have been mutually beneficial has fallen into an embarrassing situation, which has brought the development of power exchange to a deadlock.

Recently, China Automobile Industry Association officially solicited opinions on the group standard of "Code for the Construction of Shared Power Exchanging Stations for Electric Passenger Cars" (hereinafter referred to as the "Code"), which marked the first step of establishing the standard for the construction of shared power exchanging mode.

Is the shared power exchange station expected to become a key to break the deadlock in the development of power exchange mode and activate the potential of power exchange mode in the future?

Vicious cycle, it is difficult to change electricity at both ends

Tong Zongqi, director of the Information Department of China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, one of the drafting units of the Code, believes that the advantages of high charging efficiency and low time cost make the power exchange mode a good choice for new energy vehicles to replenish electricity.

For electric vehicles, the benefits of changing electricity are obvious. From the consumer’s point of view, the shortest charging time of only a few minutes is comparable to that of a fuel car, so that "power anxiety" is no longer a problem. For automobile and battery manufacturers, through centralized management and use of batteries, battery performance can be better maintained, battery life can be prolonged, and even after retirement, it can be effectively recycled to maximize resource utilization.

But in real life, the process of changing electricity is often not as smooth as expected. "Not only do you often have to queue up, sometimes the map shows that there is electricity in the power station. When the driver goes, he finds that the battery that can be replaced is not as good as the original battery." Tongzongqi was deeply impressed by some new energy taxi drivers’ complaints about the mode of changing electricity.

Not only is the user experience poor, but the operators of the power station also have difficulties. "As far as the operation of changing power stations is concerned, many enterprises have not yet achieved real profits." Tong Zongqi told reporters that as a kind of "heavy assets", the power station needs to invest a lot of money in land, infrastructure construction, operation and maintenance. Only when the electric vehicle model reaches a certain scale can it cover the high cost of initial investment. However, it is obvious that the current low number of power exchange vehicles is not enough to support the large-scale construction and popularization of power exchange stations. Tong Zongqi believes that there are fewer models adopting the power exchange mode, and the enthusiasm of manufacturers to build power exchange stations is not high; However, the coverage of the power exchange station is insufficient, and fewer cars are willing to adopt the power exchange mode. As a result, the development of power exchange mode has fallen into a vicious circle deadlock.

The standard opens the way, making the sharing break.

Sharing power exchange is regarded as a "key" that is expected to solve the problem of power exchange mode and bring it into a virtuous circle. The shared power exchange station is the infrastructure of the shared power exchange mode. "If the power exchange stations can be shared, the benefits of a single power exchange station can be maximized, and repeated construction of different types of power exchange stations can be avoided, which not only saves costs but also expands the number." According to Tongzongqi’s introduction, the shared power exchange station can gather various power exchange needs of different brands and models, integrate and unify the original scattered power exchange stations, and maximize the potential of a single power exchange station without changing the total number of construction.

However, the premise of sharing is a unified standard. Tong Zongqi gave an example to reporters. On the personal consumption side, the automobile manufacturers that adopt the power exchange mode at present are mainly Weilai Automobile; At the commercial operation end, it is mainly represented by Beiqi New Energy. And it is only a few manufacturers that adopt the power exchange mode, and their power exchange methods are not the same. "Take the specific vehicle-end power exchange mechanism as an example. BAIC New Energy adopts the snap-in type and Weilai adopts the bolt type. These are two different technical routes." Tong Zongqi said.

In order to unify the standards and promote sharing, the Code issued this time contains 13 parts, ranging from the logo slogan of the power exchange station to the overall site selection construction of the power exchange station, all of which have been carefully standardized.

For example, in view of the compatibility of parking platforms, the Specification proposes to meet the needs of different vehicle positioning. On the other hand, in terms of the vehicle-end power exchange mechanism mentioned by Tongzongqi, the Code gives standards for both ways. The durability life of the vehicle with snap lock mechanism should meet the requirements of at least 8,000 power exchanges, and the durability life of the vehicle with bolt lock mechanism should meet the requirements of at least 3,000 power exchanges.

The Code involves many market players, including power station builders, operators, automobile manufacturers, battery manufacturers and so on. Tong Zongqi believes that as the terminal application of the shared power exchange mode, the determination of its standard will not only help to standardize the construction and operation of the power exchange station, but also require the upstream automobile and battery manufacturers to actively abide by it in the early production process, cooperate with many parties, and share power exchange to move from concept to application.

On the other hand, Tong Zongqi also pointed out that the release of the "Specification" is not to make all models uniform, but to hope that manufacturers will take the initiative to try and make mistakes on the basis of this standard, strive to enhance the compatibility of different models, and finally select the best solution through the market. "It is not realistic to realize the complete unification of all models. If it can eventually be concentrated into two or three main modes, it will also be a resource saving." Tong Zongqi said.

Multi-pronged approach to enhance market competitiveness

Tong Zongqi believes that the release of the Code has solved the problem of sharing power exchange standards from scratch. "There was no relevant standard for reference before, but now there is, all parties can refer to it." However, Tong Zongqi also pointed out that this Code is only the first step in the formulation of standards. "Group standards play a reference and experimental role, and are not mandatory. The purpose is to call on the whole industry to take this as a reference, constantly verify the rationality and feasibility of standards in the market, and lay a good foundation for further formulating industry standards and national standards in the future."

If the shared power exchange station solves the hardware problem of infrastructure, the construction of "software" related to "good" is more critical for the popularization of power exchange mode.

"I also spent money to buy the battery. When I changed the electricity, what happened to the new and old ones?" When talking about the current power exchange mode, the most heated discussion among car owners is the battery ownership dispute. In order to resolve this contradiction from the source, the business model of "separation of vehicles and electricity" came into being. According to Tong Zongqi, the battery cost usually accounts for about 40% of the total cost of new energy vehicles. "Separation of vehicle and electricity" means that the power battery is sold separately from the car body during the sales process, and the car body is purchased by the owner at one time, and the ownership belongs to the owner. The battery is rented and paid monthly. Depending on the battery capacity, the rental price ranges from several hundred yuan to thousands of yuan. At the same time, the car purchase price of the whole vehicle also dropped by about 20%, which significantly lowered the threshold for consumers to buy a car. Although the "separation of vehicle and electricity" mode fundamentally eliminates the dispute over battery ownership, this "betrayal" of the tradition of the automobile industry and the monthly rental mode are still a big test of consumer acceptance.

There is still a lot to be done to realize the sustainable development of power exchange mode. "In terms of the number of battery packs in the power station, what is the most appropriate configuration? Too many configurations can’t be used, which will increase operating costs in vain; The configuration is not enough and the user experience is not good. " Tong Zongqi believes that in addition to the basic construction of power exchange, the use of big data and intelligent operation methods will also help the power exchange model to truly survive in the market competition.

According to the plan of China Automobile Industry Association, the sharing power exchange technology will be gradually promoted to the market in three steps. In the first stage, the infrastructure construction, vehicle identification system, data analysis system and other aspects of the power station will be shared, including interconnection and intelligent identification by using the cloud platform; In the second stage, communication protocols and electrical connectors will be further shared, and the sharing of vehicle platforms will be realized by encouraging more power exchange enterprises to participate; The third stage is to fully realize the sharing of battery pack platform and battery module, and achieve the most ideal state of sharing power exchange mode.

However, in the final compilation note, the Code also specifically pointed out that the shared power exchange should not be shared for the sake of sharing, but should be realized on the basis of ensuring the safety, reliability and stability of vehicle products. At the same time, China Automobile Industry Association hopes to establish a sustainable business model of power exchange through the construction of shared power exchange station, so that the market can test the feasibility, reliability and stability of the shared power exchange model, and strive to make the power exchange model an active choice for energy supplement in the new energy vehicle market.