Arcfox Goes Battery Swapping with the Help of CATL
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Little BAIC Group EV startup Arcfox has gone an interesting route. Naturally, when we think of EV battery swapping, we typically think of NIO, which has far and away been the battery swapping leader in the industry. However, the world’s biggest battery producer, CATL, has also gotten into the battery swapping game relatively recently. That’s who Arcfox has partnered with to incorporate battery swapping into a coming model.
The Arcfox Beta T1 is a small, entry-level EV, but it will including battery swapping. It was one of the models revealed in the huge swarm of new EV filings released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) last week.
One of the biggest benefits of a car coming with a battery swapping option is the full, long-term cost of a battery is not put on the buyer by default from day one. Instead, the upfront capital cost of the car is on the buyer, but then the battery is just rented/leased for as many years as the person has the car. As a small, entry-level model, that will surely help it compete.
The batteries that will be swapped in and out of the car are LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries.
Here’s the big shebang: the entry level cost of the Arcfox Beta T1 is 62,800 yuan ($9,310). The car has a driving range of 350 km (217 miles), or up to 450 km (280 miles), on a full charge. However, a longer range version many be coming later in the year.
But, hey, wait — how much battery swapping infrastructure does CATL actually have in place at this point? It’s no NIO after all. The company has built 2,000 Choco swap stations, which are located in 180 cities. Will the Arcfox Beta T1 be a hit? If I’m being honest, I have no idea. It’s hard to know how people will respond to battery swapping models targeting to areas of the market. I could see the Arcfox Beta T1 being a huge hit, but I could also imagine it being a dud…. We will have to wait to see what ends up being closer to the truth.
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