The future of EVs? This is the world's first range-extending hybrid car with swappable battery packs – and it could catch on
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China's largest EV battery maker, CATL, has introduced battery-swapping stations in China (above left), which the new Geely Haoyue R7 (above right) will apparently be compatible with. | Credit: CATL / Geely / MIIT
News has surfaced from China that Geely is poised to release the world's first range-extender hybrid vehicle that is also compatible with the country's growing network of battery-swapping stations.
Badged the Haoyue R7, Car News China says that it is essentially a rebadged version of the Geely Livan 7 all-electric flagship SUV, which was among the first Geely models to support battery swap.
The process of driving into a dedicated facility and having a robot autonomously replace the entire battery pack has been pushed by CATL, China's largest EV battery maker, and the electric vehicle brand Nio, which has even started to introduce facilities to parts of Europe.
It is reported that the upcoming Haoyue R7 will be compatible with CATL's battery swap technology, allowing owners to either juice-up from home, use the much faster public charging network, or take advantage of battery-swapping stations.
What's more, the 1.5-liter, naturally-aspirated petrol engine can act as a generator to charge the onboard battery packs for longer journeys.
No official range figures have been released as of yet, but even the smallest battery pack on the Livan 7 can manage almost 280 miles on a single charge, so when you factor in the range extender, it could easily manage double that.
Although very much a niche powertrain in the Chinese market, it will offer customers an unparalleled choice of how they get around, opening up the idea of electric vehicles to more and attempting to prove that range anxiety should no longer be an issue.
Analysis: The more methods, the merrier
Credit: Nio
According to a recent report by the BBC , Nio has now built over 3,300 battery swap stations in China, with the company looking to expand across the country over the next few years.
Currently, a number of taxis, buses and heavy-duty trucks are making use of battery-swap technology in China, as these vehicles tend to have more predictable movement patterns that make the entire process a lot easier to manage.
But through advances in software, it is also becoming far simpler for electric vehicle brands to manage entire EV fleets, with the ability to work out which vehicle needs its batteries brimmed and what the most effective way to do this is.
Tesla, for example, pioneered a "connected" Supercharger network that helps point drivers towards the most accessible and fastest charger in the vicinity, pre-conditioning the battery for the most efficient top-ups.
Battery swap stations are not just another quick method to get drivers moving again (the process takes around five minutes), it can also drastically reduce the initial cost of a new vehicle.
Geely says the Haoyue R7 will be offered without the battery pack, giving customers the opportunity to pay a small monthly fee to rent the batteries and take advantage of the CATL battery swap network.
This has proven extremely popular with Taiwanese company Gogoro's battery swap network, which uses much smaller packs to power two-wheel scooters, mopeds and smaller capacity motorcycles in a number of global markets.
Not only is the cost of the motorcycle in question far less expensive to purchase outright – even when paired with partner Yamaha's products – it's also more convenient, with users able to pull up to a station, swap batteries out by hand (there's no need for robots, as the packs are so small) and get on their way.
