Mobile Charging Services Are Expanding and Evolving

In early 2019, NIO introduced mobile charging services to China. The service uses electric vans to haul additional batteries and charging equipment, and EV owners can request NIO’s mobile charging services via the company’s smartphone app. NIO’s vans can come to the vehicle and provide enough charge for the owner to either get home or to the nearest battery swapping station. The service can also charge the vehicle while the owner is away. Relative to other public and private charging options, the service is expensive—NIO was reportedly charging ¥280 ($42) per session in 2019. It is, however, highly convenient. This convenience appears to have outweighed the expense as the number of mobile charging services inside and outside of China has grown.

In China, NIO’s mobile charging services are also provided by the Beijing Automotive Group’s all-EV brand Beijing Electric Vehicle. By spring 2020, BYD had also launched its own mobile charging service. Later in 2020, the service model went international with Kia announcing that it would introduce a mobile charging service in South Korea.

Something Different for Europe

In Europe, similar but different services have emerged. In 2017, a German startup, CHARGERY, launched a service that used bikes to haul batteries and chargers to waiting EVs. The service resonated with shared mobility operators, and as of late 2020, the company had rebranded to Surve Mobility, focusing specifically on shared mobility in four European countries.

Another service with a nuanced take on mobile charging called Nimbee will be piloted in Prague. Set to begin in summer 2021, Nimbee is being introduced by startup Nimble Energy. The service will rely on a trailer hauling a 40 kWh battery, presumably transported by vehicle by third-party operators to waiting EVs. The latter is an aspect modeled after rideshare services that could have intriguing implications for the e-mobility landscape.

A New Gig Economy Disruption?

If successful, the Nimbee concept may open a new market for portable charging devices like those of US startup SparkCharge, which are small enough to be kept in the trunk of a car and carried to waiting EVs. It could also increase value for vehicle-to-vehicle charging as an option in new plug-in EV purchases. Rivian is reportedly enabling this capability on the upcoming R1T.

Another potential outcome is that more vehicle operators will be more able and interested in supporting the mobility of their peers. In the near term, this can help overcome gaps in public EV charging networks. In the long term, it could bring roadside assistance into the gig economy fold similar to what Uber did for taxi services. Instead of drivers relying on roadside assistance membership services, they could rely on a larger and more responsive network of gig workers for mobile charging services. There will likely be much evolution for mobile charging services in the coming years.