Chinese battery manufacturer CATL is launching a new scheme to standardise the swapping of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) with 30,000 ‘swap stations’.

Battery swapping makes complete sense for EV drivers. Instead of pulling up to a station, plugging in and waiting for the battery to charge, an automated machine will merely swap the battery out for a fully charged one, and the driver can get back on the road.

However, it is far more challenging to achieve than it sounds. For one, it requires the standardisation of batteries that are to be swapped between different vehicles.

CATL is taking a step in this direction by announcing it has launched two standard ‘Choco-Swap’ batteries: #20 and #25.

According to the company, these two standard battery models – made from either lithium iron phosphate (LFP) or nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) – offer various capacities and range.

For instance, the #20 LFP version battery pack offers 42kWh capacities and a range of 400km, while the #20 NMC version...