e.Go offers battery exchange for small electric cars
The idea is not new: instead of time-consuming searches for charging stations and even more time-consuming charging processes on the electric umbilical cord, one could simply exchange the empty battery for a full one. With the appropriate infrastructure, this could happen much faster than with the traditional method. However, the company Better Place already failed spectacularly with this idea. Now the comparatively tiny German manufacturer e.Go Mobile wants to introduce such a system again.
Customers who have to be on the road longer than usual due to an unexpected event can use this function integrated in their e.GO Life to exchange the almost empty battery for a fully charged one, e.Go advertises. The battery exchange takes place in a suitably equipped e.GO battery exchange station – the “e.Pit”. At a later date, but within one month at the latest, the customer can collect their original battery – now fully charged again – from the same station.
Customers remain the owner of their original battery and keep track of it at all times via an app using their battery ID. The service is to be available to all e.GO customers free of charge as part of their annual exchange quota. The swap process takes about 60 minutes, which is not really fast, but still faster than a full charge at a conventional public charging station. The company is working to further reduce the duration of the swap process to reach the target of just under 30 minutes in the future.
The first two swap stations at the e.Go plant in Aachen and in Zülpich (both Germany) are already in operation. The next stations will be in Düsseldorf and Hamburg, with more in the pipeline.
“At e.GO, battery swapping is not just a new feature or another line of business. By using technologies and innovations like these, we want to show our utmost gratitude to our customers and all e.GO users who have chosen to act responsibly and who care about the environmental footprint of their vehicle as well as sustainable urban mobility. It is our responsibility to support this drive for greater sustainability in the best possible way – and with our battery replacement solution, we offer the convenience to do so,” says Ali Vezvaei, CEO of Next.e.GO Mobile SE.
For the company, this service would be a unique selling point – at least until the Chinese e-car manufacturer Nio enters the European market next year. Nio also plans to offer a battery exchange service. However, Nio is not a direct competitor to e.Go: while e.Go is active in the small car segment, Nio serves the luxury segment.
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