Co-construction strategy of battery swapping stations and charging piles in China

The development of battery swapping stations (BSS) offers a significant opportunity to address infrastructure deficiencies and alleviate range anxiety, issues commonly associated with current charging piles. Therefore, understanding the requirements for the co-construction of BSS and charging piles is essential. This study employs a Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory model, enhanced with an attention mechanism, to forecast the ownership of battery electric vehicles (BEV) in China from 2024 to 2030. Furthermore, the study explores potential scenarios concerning the standardization of the battery swapping model, the optimization of charging and swapping infrastructure, and the dual charging of battery-swap BEV, proposing co-construction strategies for both BSS and charging piles. The findings suggest that promoting the battery swapping model significantly reduces construction pressure on both charging and swapping infrastructure. By 2030, the maximum construction capacity for charging piles and BSS will reach 28.36 million and 62.44 thousand units, respectively. Additionally, the potential for dual charging behavior increases infrastructure demand, but expanding the proportion of fast charging piles can help mitigate this demand. Based on these results, the study introduces a forward-looking BSS strategy and provides policy recommendations for planners aiming to develop a long-term co-construction policy for BSS and charging piles.