Innovations

Greenway Battery Swap

Code

OT1.15

Title

Greenway Battery Swap

Case study/reference

Greenway (n.d.). Greenway [online]. Available from: http://www.greenwayoperator.com. Accessed on 10 February 2016.

Recommendations for the design

A successful use of the technology depends on the business case. Greenway calculated that a successful business case would mean:

Minimum of 10 microbuses (with approximately 12 seats)
Minimum of 300 km per bus per day
A maximum necessary range of 200 km (before swapping battery)

Recommendations for the implementation

First, asses potential by comparing the actual operations to the optimal pattern of operation for the battery swapping technology (300+ km per day, return to the stations every 200 km, and 10+ pcs vehicles for one station).

Second, extend the battery swap van’s type approval to its passenger-version. This would cost about 100k -200k and take approximately 6-9 months (rough estimation), a process which could be done in consortium with Greenway and an electric auto conversions specialist of your choice.

Brief description

Greenway battery swap is a ready-to-use technology for delivery vans that could be adapted to use in PT.

Full description

Greenway battery swap is a ready-to-use technology for delivery vans that could be adapted to use in PT. The technology could be used in microbuses (up to 12 seats) and would give them a driving range of about 250 km. Greenway may use GPS technology for analysis of routing of the current diesel vehicles to help assess potential for deployment of this technology for a specific use case very precisely (both practical and financial point of view). Swapping a battery takes approximately 7 minutes while (overnight) charging would take a lot longer. Fast charging puts high pressure on the electrical grid and is therefore more expensive than ‘slow’ overnight charging. Greenway battery swap could be a financially effective, sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and other electrical solutions under certain conditions (minimum of 10 buses, at least 300 km per bus per day and a maximum of driving 200 km between returns to the battery swapping station).

CIPTEC score

3.6