Does a subscription or pay-per-swap strategy affect the charging station and battery renter?

Based on a consumer utility function containing the opportunity cost of time that varies between commercial and private drivers and across weekdays/daytime and weekends/nighttime, this study examines how the swapping station’s adoption of subscription or pay-per-swap strategy affects the charging station and battery renter as well as consumers.

How do EV swapping service providers pricing based on battery rental?

A swapping service provider may choose between two pricing strategies based on battery rental: pay-per-swap and subscription. This study establishes a game-theoretical model to portray a simplified EV replenishment market including one charging station, one swapping station, and one battery renter, and explores the optimal pricing strategy.

What is the difference between charging stations and swapping stations?

Swapping stations give drivers a fully-charged battery pack in a few minutes compared to varying charging wait times, which can range anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. But the former tends to come with a higher price tag to the provider, given the more complex infrastructure and equipment.

Why do swapping stations increase battery rental charge KC?

When the opportunity cost of time becomes more salient to consumers (i.e., higher r or 1 - β) or the gap between charging time t C and swapping time t S widens, the swapping station and the battery renter tend to raise swapping price p S ∗ and battery rental charge KC ∗.

Should a battery swapping station switch to a pay-per-swap strategy?

The advances in battery technology, including battery production cost reduction and battery management system improvement, lower battery depreciation cost and the swapping station may switch to the pay-per-swap strategy.

What is the profit function of a battery swapping station?

On behalf of the battery renter, the swapping station provides 1 + θ D B rentals to consumers at rate KC, leading to the total rental expense K C 1 + θ D B. Incorporating fixed operating cost FO S, the profit function of swapping station is: (23) π S = f D B - VO S D B q - K C 1 + θ D B - FO S.