Supporters of vehicle electrification point to the more than 140,000 EV charging stations currently deployed across the United States – including Level 2 AC and Level 3 DC fast chargers and both public and restricted access units – as a sign that a budding system to support our transportation transformation is in place. Continue reading
Geopolitical turbulence and the fragile and volatile nature of the critical raw-material supply chain could curtail planned expansion in battery production—slowing mainstream electric-vehicle (EV) adoption and the transition to an electrified future. Continue reading
The conductive fast-charging system as we know it today has drawbacks such as long dwell times, high power demand from the grid, availability and reliability issues, and the need for end-users to deal with heavy cables, dirty connectors, and buggy user interfaces. Battery-swapping is an emerging technology that aims to address all of these shortcomings. Besides easily upgrading battery technology, reducing the purchase price of EVs (by decoupling the cost of the battery from the EV), and massively decreasing charging times, it is also important to note that the battery swapping stations themselves can become independent energy storage facilities with grid-balancing ability. As we electrify the various vehicle segments, can battery swapping be considered a viable recharging strategy for them all? Continue reading