Master Degree Thesis - PoliTO

POLITECNICO DI TORINO

Department of Management and Production Engineering

Engineering and management course (Innovation path)

Master's Degree Thesis

Battery Swapping Systems:

From a Business-oriented Analysis to a Practical Case Study

Supervisors: Prof. Franco Lombardi Ing. Giulia Bruno

21-07-2020

Candidate:

Andrea Comelli s255608

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"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever".

- Steve Jobs

Alla mia famiglia, ad Adriana e ai miei amici. Che sia la fine di un duro percorso e l'inizio di una vita colma di felicit?, successi e rivincite.

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Abstract

This master's degree thesis deals with the concept of Battery Swapping System (BSS). A BSS is an alternative technological infrastructure to the charging process of Electric Vehicles (EV) of any kind and dimension, trying to solve problems affecting many stakeholders in the process while obtaining equivalent final result.

I decided to address this specific topic driven by a strong commitment to safeguard of the planet. I believe the problem must be solved together and even the smallest symbolic contribution from younger generations may help.

In this paper I tried to blend more abstract and general considerations to business-oriented concepts and practical applications and implications.

Nowadays, Electrification of powertrains is increasing year on year and it is quite clear that this scenario in the long term will dominate market sales, imposing itself as the dominant paradigm of green alternative mobility. On the other hand, the electrification process brings the attention to some issues to be solved, first of all which infrastructure and complementary technology to invest in, in parallel with EVs diffusion curve. Today, plug-in charging, private or public, is the most widespread form of charging, however it has many drawbacks and probably will not be able to support the rapid growth of EVs, leaving the door open to other solutions for the future. Among all possibilities, explained in the paper, the decision to focus on Battery Swapping was taken since this solution, right now, allows to gain the highest benefits, satisfying simultaneously the needs of all the stakeholders and maximising the process efficiency from almost all points of view.

The paper can be virtually split into two parts, a first section whose aim is to collect and put together information on the topic from online and offline sources, exploiting a funnel approach starting from the broader concept of EV state of art and paradigm and ending with detailed battery swapping dynamics, passing through complementary technologies' comparison as alternatives as well. After bringing the attention to the chosen technology, the second section focuses on an ideal practical application of BSS, introducing a specific case study on heavy-duty trucks (commercial road transport) in Italy with a deep dive on market sizing and business model analysis. The choice of this mean of transport was made considering how well and easily could it fit a battery swap infrastructure. The goal of this case study is to simulate heavy-duty trucks driving on two paths across the whole country (long-haul trucks), exploiting a BSS built using FlexSim software, under many ideal assumptions clearly stated. The final aim of the simulation itself was double, on one side to test the maximum traffic flow the basic model could bear and, on the other side, to modify the model so as to find the best solution based on monitored output parameters, solution to be then approximately compared to the outputs that would ideally come from a traditional plug-in fast charging solution or even a traditional powertrain (ICE), in terms of cost, time and energetic demand.

Therefore, based on quantitative results obtained from the specific simulation and analyses under all the assumptions and based on the qualitative more general academic research on the topic as well, I have been able to draw some conclusions. The battery swap solution provides benefits to many stakeholders involved and may be able to provide the same results for drivers as a plug-in solution, however other obstacles are probably hindering its rise in the short term. In the long term, due to the rise of other shaping trends, battery swap may become an optimal complementary solution, thanks to the possibility if offers to improve energy management and timings, two key factors in the future connected smart communities.

This paper addresses a highly innovative topic for our country, really practical and useful for our immediate future. This work opens the door to further investigation, in particular to the building of more customized and accurate models, able to resemble real processes applied to many different vehicles and situations. Further research may be conducted on the renewable energy options applied to battery swapping stations as well on the net present value (NPV) of a network of BS stations' project. The kind of results ideally coming from those experiments would be extremely beneficial for the final evaluation of the adoption and investment of such a technology in our country. Today is the perfect timing, investment and development decisions can't be postponed anymore.

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Acknowledgements

Vorrei esprimere i miei pi? sentiti ringraziamenti al Professor Franco Lombardi, alla ricercatrice Giulia Bruno e al dottorando Emiliano Traini per la disponibilit? e per aver permesso la realizzazione di questo elaborato. Ringrazio il dipertimento di Ingegneria gestionale e della produzione (DIGEP) del Politecnico di Torino e per aver concesso l'utilizzo del modello di base (risultato di una tesi di laurea magistrale precendente), utile ai fini delle simulazioni e l'osservatorio del traffico dell'ANAS (Gruppo FS Italiane) per la concessione dei dati esemplificativi inseriti nel modello di simulazione. Un grazie infine ai professori Neirotti e Cantamessa per avermi introdotto e fatto appassionare all'analisi strategica di soluzioni innovative.

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