Nowadays, electric vehicles have become an indispensable means of transportation for office workers, couriers, and food delivery riders. However, there are two main ways to address range issues: one is charging piles, which take hours to fully charge a vehicle, and the other is battery swapping cabinets, where users can replace a depleted battery with a fully charged one in about 10-30 seconds. Which one is more popular among users?
Battery Swapping Cabinets: Oversized Power Banks
Imagine your phone is dead—would you rather wait around for two hours with a charging cable plugged in, or swap it for a fully charged power bank in just a few seconds? Battery swapping cabinets work on a similar logic. They’re a favorite among delivery riders: when the bike runs out of power, scan the QR code to open the cabinet, drop in the dead battery and pick up a fully charged one. The whole process might be faster than ordering takeout.
Charging Piles: Buddhist-Style Charging
Charging piles are like reliable "caring guys"—though charging is slow (often taking hours), they excel in stability. Now, charging piles are popping up everywhere: in residential complexes, shopping malls, and downstairs from office buildings. No need to go out of your way to find one, and the pricing is affordable.
However, their drawbacks are equally obvious. Waiting hours for a full charge is frustrating—especially when you need the bike urgently, watching the progress bar creep along. Illegal parking is another issue: non-charging vehicles often occupy the spots. There are also some inconsiderate people who unplug your partially charged battery.
How to Choose
If you’re a food delivery rider, courier, or need to travel long distances daily, the 30-second battery swap of a battery swapping cabinet is definitely a great choice—the time saved can be used to take more orders. But if you’re an ordinary office worker with a daily commute of dozens of kilometers, the "Buddhist-style charging" of charging piles is more than sufficient.
