Maintaining your EV is about to get a whole lot easier 

With every passing day, we see more and more electric cars on the road but the same old question continues to concern both owners and prospective users of electric cars: is the infrastructure enough? Can we actually rely on it or are we all doomed to get stranded by the side of the road one of these days? Well, it just might be that Laser Tools has the answer. 

The majority of EV users out there turn to the nearest charging station at the first sign of battery depletion but, as we all know, the infrastructure cannot yet be relied on for comprehensive coverage of the country – I know first-hand just how quickly panic sets in as soon as you find yourself in an area more rural than usual. 

However, since modern EV batteries are designed to be easily removed from the vehicle, for both service and/or replacement purposes, wouldn’t a quick swap be simpler than a lengthy wait by the side of your car while it charges up? 

That is exactly what Nio, the Chinese electric carmaker, has been working on. With Power Swap Stations already widespread across China, the company has now invested in the Norwegian market as well. Not only did it open a new station just south of Oslo capable of doing up to 240 swaps per day, but Nio also has plans to build 20 more of these stations in Norway before launching themselves into the European market. 

From a user’s perspective, there’s nothing much to the process they’ve implemented: you simply book a slot, drive up to the station, park in the designated marks, and wait. Five minutes later, you’re good to go – it’s that easy.   

Well, there is one issue… Though they may be simple to remove in theory (i.e., a few bolts and a plug to remove), in practice safely removing a large battery which can weigh anything up to 600kg is not exactly ‘easy’.  

While the OE vehicle manufacturers will generally have their own model-specific solutions, these are often very expensive to acquire, even if they are actually available to the general public. However, Laser Tools, the number one name for electric vehicle maintenance with the UK’s largest range of insulated tools and workshop safety equipment, is looking to fix that. 

The company has recently introduced two new products, designed specifically for safely removing such batteries and suitable for ‘all-makes’ applications: the EV battery-lifting frame and the EV mobile battery bench. Although these are individual items and can be purchased and used independently, they have been designed to be used in conjunction with each other as a complete battery removal process. 

The mobile battery bench is used under a standard two-post vehicle lift — the bench legs are adjusted to suit the angle of the base of the battery on the vehicle. The vehicle is then lowered onto the surface of the bench, and the battery-securing fasteners and other components are removed. Raising the vehicle allows the mobile bench with battery to be rolled away. 

The battery-lifting frame is used for lifting the battery of the mobile battery bench for repair or replacement and for lifting a new battery from its packing crate ready for installation. It is fully adjustable to accommodate the length and width of the battery and positioning of the lifting eyes. It can also be adjusted to accommodate batteries which vary in height along their length due to control modules by adjusting the chain lengths. This adjustability is critical in being able to maintain stable horizontal lifting for safety reasons. 

So, it could be that battery-swapping is what the future of electric vehicles looks like – it certainly would save us all quite a bit of hassle. If you’re interested in finding out more about Laser Tools’ products, you can visit their website or check out your local Laser Tools stockist.