Battery swap
I only recently learned what ‘IYKYK’ means from a Gen Z, so from a Gen X, I am coining ‘IIWIW.’ If it works, it works.
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I only recently learned what ‘IYKYK’ means from a Gen Z, so from a Gen X, I am coining ‘IIWIW.’ If it works, it works.
ILLUSTRATION BY GLENZKIE TOLO
I used to think the most stressful battery problem was the TV remote. It usually dies when the volume is too loud, or the channel is wrong, and the TV is “too far” to operate manually.
Then electric vehicles arrived and made batteries much more serious. Now the battery can decide how far a vehicle can go and how long a rider must stop to charge it.
This is why battery swapping is worth watching. Instead of plugging in and waiting, the rider exchanges a depleted battery for a charged one.
In China, NIO announced on 6 February 2026 that it had completed its 100 millionth battery swap. They said its power swap takes an average of about three minutes.
CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker, has its Choco-SEB system that uses modular battery blocks where one block can provide about 200 kilometers of driving range.
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Taiwan’s Gogoro introduced scooter battery swapping in Metro Manila, but its Philippine rollout appears to have lost momentum. Its local website remains online and still describes battery swapping, but that does not show how active the network is today.
That makes VinFast’s planned rollout the fresher test of whether battery exchange can work here. The Vietnamese EV company has signed partnerships with 14 e-scooter dealers in the country. It said its initial local portfolio will include swappable-battery e-scooters such as the Evo, Feliz II and Viper, with other models planned for later launch.
A scooter launch is one thing, but a battery-swapping network is another.
Our roads are already full of motorcycles and scooters and many riders use them for work because they cost less to own and operate than cars.
Electric scooters face one practical question. Where do you charge? Battery swapping tries to solve that problem.
VinFast said it plans to deploy about 30,000 battery-swapping stations nationwide in collaboration with infrastructure partners.
The Philippines has many riders who do not have easy home charging access and cannot afford to wait. Battery swapping deserves a closer look because it fits a local problem. That is why this business model may enter the country through two wheels first.
Instead of a luxury EV charging at home or a long stop at a highway charging station, the more practical start may be a smaller battery station placed closer to riders.
A rider arrives at a station, leaves the tired battery behind, takes a fresh one, and returns to the road.
I only recently learned what ‘IYKYK’ means from a Gen Z, so from a Gen X, I am coining ‘IIWIW.’ If it works, it works.
Battery swapping makes sense because it keeps useful things moving and working without making people wait too long or replace something that still works.
The future of mass adoption of EVs in the Philippines may not begin with a plug. It may begin with a swap.
