I've not heard about battery swaps for electric cars here in China. I'm not saying there aren't any, just that I'm not aware of them. I'm led to believe that they are big bloody things anyway!Originally Posted by Ninja
The 'Deliveroo' riders use such a swap system for their e-bikes.
I had an electric car about 6 years ago. I was working for a car company in China and they kindly lent me one for a year.
At that time, there wasn't the abundance of charging points that there are now and that was very problematic for me. I live in a high-rise apartment block (as do so many Chinese) and that was a stumbling block, it ruled out charging at home.
Sometimes the nearest public charging point would be a bus ride back to my home after leaving it to charge. It was very inconvenient, to say the least.
As for the charging - the battery couldn't take the quick charge that so many EVs do nowadays. I used to let the battery go down to about 15% and let it charge overnight (would take about 7 hours to charge fully).
The other problem I often encountered was drivers would hook up to charge and leave it there all day and evening, even petrol cars would use the space to park their cars, I would find myself frantically searching for another place to charge, while watching the battery go lower and lower.
The plus side of things is that electric vehicles have free parking in my city.
Charging was as 'cheap as chips' - I used to charge it 3 times a week, urban travel only, at a cost of ¥12 (£1.50) each time.
I should point out that this was no Tesla rival, it was a rather small EV (too small, to be honest).
Oh, but it was fast! When I first had it I used to think I had jumped the lights, as when I looked in my rear-view mirror the other cars seemed as if they were still standing at the lights!
I don't think my experience is really relevant to the latest EVs, coupled with the fact many of you can probably recharge at home.
Reply With Quote