With the arrival of the new models of electric cars from the Chinese manufacturer Nio in October in Germany, a new concept of battery replacement points also appears. If the user does not want to recharge his car with the cable, he can change the empty battery for a full one. But there is a problem: so far, there is only one such station in Germany, in Bavaria, on the A8 motorway. By the end of 2022 there will be 19 more and in 2023 another 100.
Crash test, a disaster
17 years ago, Chinese manufacturers already tried to introduce cars to the German market, but the results of the crash test carried out by the General German Automobile Club (ADAC) of the Landwind off-roader left much to be desired.
But now the situation seems different. The Munich-based car rental company Sixt, the industry giant, announced that it had closed a contract with the Chinese manufacturer BYD: 100,000 electric cars by 2028. The first will be delivered this year.
For BYD, the agreement with Sixt represents a giant step. In addition, the company is already one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world and, in the medium term, it could become the largest manufacturer of electric cars and even unseat Tesla from the podium.
Experts estimate that almost 20 Chinese car brands could soon be in Europe. The advantage is that they manufacture vehicles from different segments, while the big European manufacturers only offer electric vehicles in the most expensive segment, and with a shortage of spare parts and chips due to problems in the supply chain and with the consequent manufacturing delays. .
Asian Competition
But can Chinese manufacturers compete with Mercedes, BMW or VW? DW contacted experts, such as Jochen Siebert, founder of the JSC Automotive company in Shanghai and Stuttgart, which specializes in the Chinese car market: “I don’t think any of the Chinese manufacturers can really compete on the same level as the European, Japanese and Koreans in Europe.”
For Siebert, the strength of Chinese cars lies in the offer of various electronic functions, such as karaoke for passengers or augmented reality devices, surely attractive to the Chinese consumer. But German buyers in the more expensive segment are more conservative and avoid electronic devices as much as possible.
An electric taxi from the Chinese manufacturer BYD.
China, protectionist market
Furthermore, most if not all Chinese manufacturers would not exist today without state support. Siebert says that “knowing that the Chinese state is running out of money to offer more subsidies, all Chinese manufacturers are rushing to go abroad and try their luck there.”
Gregor Sebastian, an auto analyst at the Market Institute for China Studies (MERICS), believes that Chinese companies have also benefited from restrictions on market access for foreign competitors imposed in the Asian country.
However, this support could become a serious problem for Chinese manufacturers in Europe. The EU has set out to tackle Chinese protectionism. “New rules on third-country subsidies that distort competition,” suggests Sebastian, “could become a serious problem for Chinese electric car manufacturers.” Growing geopolitical differences can also pose an additional problem.
“The isolation of China would harm German manufacturers”
Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Duisburg-based CAR, Center for Automotive Research, believes that China’s advantage is the almost infinite speed with which they develop and implement innovations. “Tesla is unique, but in China there is a broad movement that is creating many Teslas,” said Dudenhöffer.
The expert warns that an “anti-China policy” would hurt German automakers much more than Chinese ones. “We would lose much more, and an isolation of China would hit the German auto industry at its most sensitive point, since that is where the innovative force is. Today’s innovations come from China and those who avoid them lose their customers internationally.” .
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
Home charging is not appropriate
Electric cars can even be charged at home with a simple 230-volt outlet, but it is only recommended to do so temporarily. The standard socket has a low charging power (about 2.3 kilowatts), which makes it take hours. During this time, the internal power grid is overloaded, increasing the risk of the cable catching fire.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
faster with high voltage
It already works best with a 400 volt outlet. However, when charging at such an outlet (photo), a mobile charging box is needed, which communicates with the electric car and regulates the charging power.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
Special charging points for cars
Easier still is to install a charging point or so-called “wallbox” at home. Basically, this box is nothing more than a special outlet on the wall for electric cars. With it you can charge the vehicle up to ten times faster. Car manufacturers and electricity providers sell them, they can be found in specialty stores or ordered by mail.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
Loading on the shoulder
According to the German Union for Energy and Water Economics (BDEW), there are currently more than 16,100 public and partially public charging points in Germany. Almost twelve percent of them are fast charging stations. This means that, in Germany, approximately each charging point will be visited by a dozen cars. A quota that the European Commission has recommended.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
A long way
In addition to the existing charging stations, by 2020, at least 100,000 charging points for electric vehicles should be available. However, the road to achieve this is still long: the Federal Ministry of Transport has awarded almost 16,000 new charging stations in the last two years. So far, just under 1,000 of them have been carried out.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
Fast, faster, very fast
Automakers, such as Tesla, have partially built their own charging stations. BMW and Porsche are also planning stations. An early 450-kilowatt prototype has more than three times the power of Tesla’s superchargers. In the future, electric cars should be able to charge electricity for 100 kilometers in three minutes.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
charging at the lamppost
Create charging stations quickly and cheaply: The Berlin-based company Ubitricity wants to turn streetlights into charging stations. The streetlights finally pile up. In Berlin, up to 1,000 streetlight charging points will be installed in the next two years. They already exist in London. To refuel, you must have your own “smart cable”.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
The robot as a gas station operator
It is unpleasant to want to charge the electric car at a public charging station, if it is occupied. Even worse if the car is already loaded, because it shouldn’t be there. It would be best if there were automatic charging stations where cars were charged by robots and then switched off again. Researchers at the Graz University of Technology (Austria) are working on it.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
Automakers trust robots
Other institutions are also working on robotic charging solutions, such as the University of Chemnitz (photo). Volkswagen, in collaboration with robot specialist Kuka, presented a service robot a year ago. The energy supplier Innogy presented a charging robot in February. Even electric car pioneer Tesla is developing these systems.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
battery replacement
Charging takes too long? Then the battery can be changed. Chinese automaker Nio has created special workshops in which a robot automatically changes the battery in two minutes. 18 plants are already in operation. By 2020, the company plans to build around 1,100 replacement battery stations along China’s north-south transit route.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
wireless charging
In the future, inductive charging will be used. For fueling, the vehicles are simply driven over a special base plate and then the current is transmitted without contact. Parking could be done in the future through automated systems. Many automakers are working on such systems, including Volkswagen, Mercedes, Porsche, Hyundai and Kia.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
charging while driving
It’s even more comfortable when you don’t have to stop for inductive charging. Renault (photo) and chipmaker Qualcomm are already testing mobile inductive charging in France. There is a test track equipped with magnetic tracks to charge 100 kilometers of electric car batteries. An Israeli startup is also working on such a system.
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Where and how are electric cars charged?
the last resort
If the charging station was busy and the robot was broken, then mobile charging services can help. Employees of the Chargery company set off on bicycles when necessary and bring an external battery to empty the electric car, refuel and return to the mobile charging station. Of course: a full charge will last four hours.
Author: Insa Wrede
