Shanghai (ZXZC)- On June 18, CATL launched its EVOGO battery swapping service in Hefei city, the capital of China's Anhui province, following Xiamen as the second city to have this service.

According to a post on CATL's WeChat account, there were three EVOGO battery swapping stations opening in the city at one go, and the total number is expected to be increased to 20 by the end of this year.

Photo credit: CATL

Hefei is one of the core cities in the Yangtze River Delta, and also among the first pilot cities in China for the demonstration of new energy vehicle (“NEV”) battery swapping model. The launch of EVOGO battery swap service in Hefei is of great importance to CATL’s building of its battery swapping network, said Chen Weifeng, general manager of Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology Ltd. (“CAES”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL.

On January 18, 2022, CAES rolled out the EVOGO solution at an online event.

Instead of using fixed battery packs whose capacity is specifically designed for a vehicle, EVOGO rides on smaller battery blocks, which the company names “Choco-SEB (swapping electric block)”.

Supported by CATL's latest cell-to-pack (“CTP”) technology, the Choco-SEB can achieve a gravimetric energy density of 160Wh/kg and a volumetric energy density of 325 Wh/L. Each block can provide a driving range of 200km.

The solution also contains two innovative products, namely, the fast battery swap station and the EVOGO app.

Covering an area equivalent to three parking spaces, a standard EVOGO battery swap station can house up to 48 Choco-SEBs and allow one-minute swapping for a single battery block. Besides, a variety of swap stations is offered to suit the climates of different regions.