It's Sunday, you're cruising on your new electric scooter with the guys & girls, as you look down to check your speed, your worst nightmare comes to life in front of your eyes. Like a beacon of despair, your dash is illuminated in orange, whispering in light-code, 'Soon I'll be Red'.
Guess what? Battery is low. This is a familiar situation whichever side of the power-train wars you sit on. Fuel runs out, so do electrons, so what's the big deal, right? Well that's exactly what we think (kinda).
Swappable Batteries
There is a lot of hype about swappable batteries. It can be confusing because lots of e-motorbikes and e-scooters already come with removable, and therefore swappable, batteries. Unfortunately this means taking the extra battery with you, which is just an anvil to weigh you down and reduce the range of your current battery. Unfortunately, and kind of obviously, batteries don't weigh less when empty, like fuel cans.
What we're really talking about here is the standardisation of EV batteries. Like we currently see with smaller device batteries. Our tv remote takes AA or and AAA batteries. This could be the future for EV's.
With standardisation, batteries can be stored on location at service stations, and swapped-out when needed. Battery ownership would be a thing of the past and instead they would be included in our service agreements. They would be changed as needed and serviced by the battery guys, so we, the bikers, always have cells that are working at 100%. This kind of technology shouts 2-wheels, because swapping a 72v 100ah battery from an e-scooter or e-motorcycle can be done by hand (just about). In contrast, no-one wants to manually change a car battery, that would be impossible and the solution would need additional infrastructure and therefore funding.
It sounds like it's a way off. But in China, a nation at the forefront of EV technology, (more on this in a future article), they already have this system in place. It's currently brand-specific but if you have a NIO brand electric car, you don't ever need to recharge again, ever! Instead you just pull into the NIO swap-station - normally located at the fuel station - and a machine that looks like a shed, drops your used battery from the bottom of your car and in it's place, throws in a fresh, 100% working, fully charged lump of cells. All in about 4 minutes.
As a NIO driver, you get between 4 and 6 swaps a month in your service agreement. If you take the official figures for granted, this equals to 720 - 2082 miles per month.
'It's not perfect yet'. Says our correspondent, Zhengfei Sun, who took a trip to his local swap station in Wuxi City. During the visit an SUV had problems with the swap machine and had to use the intercom to call for help. But staff arrived and it was solved quickly. They were on their way in 20 minutes. Meanwhile a steady queue formed, all waiting for the same service. Zhengfei notes that...
"The batteries will keep you going for 180 to 347 miles. (dependent on conditions). Once they are empty, you just swap them as needed. But these cars aren't cheap, they retail between £40k and £60k".
If it's going to be a reality in the UK, the infrastructure will need investment from private firms and government alike. Each NIO station costs approximately £250k, to make it a reality. Not including the batteries. But I suspect that other technologies will rise quicker, possibly making the battery-swap a more specialist offering for the likes of the semi's and larger vans, and maybe redundant for the average Jo.
Rapid Charge
If you put a big enough battery in any vehicle it will do the range that you require. This is a little harder with a 2 wheeled ev because size and weight play a much bigger part. No one wants to brap several tons of lithium around a tight bend on a wet morning. But how much range do we actually need? A traditional ICE bike, lets say the CBR 900RR 1989, (yeah I'm old), could potentially do 90 - 115 miles on a tank. But when it's me on that Sunday ride, I probably hit 30-50 miles before a break. With gloves and helmet off and legs stretched, it would be stupid to not have a coffee and before I know it, 15-20 minutes has gone by. And this is the key to range-anxiety. And it goes by the name of 'Rapid Charge'.
Rapid charging on e-motorbikes? Well, we're pleased to say, it has arrived. Current models from the UK market's big players can recharge 80% in 30 minutes. On top of this they claim that:
"shorter charging times could be just around the corner".
Which means 15-20 minutes. The sweet spot for touring bikers. This means you can use the fast-chargers at the local supermarket/service station/truck stop, and you can plug-in at home for a longer, less expensive, overnight charge.
So, is this the solution to all our problems? Well, this technology is moving very fast and we predict that rapid-charging could become a normality on new electric 2 wheeled EV's in the next 3 years! If it does, then it will solve one of the last remaining discrepancies in the petrol Vs electrons debate. It could also get the big ice brands investing more in e-motorcycles, which, lets face it, is where all the torque (and fun) is.
Here at Buck City Biker, we are looking forward to introducing on-board rapid-charging on our e-motorcycles and e-scooters in the next 2 years. In the meantime we offer a built-in type-two charger, as standard, on the Odin Pro, available in store now.
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