Watch: Chinese EV dumps swappable battery while driving

Jet Sanchez
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An electric vehicle (EV) in Chengdu, China, has been filmed dropping its entire battery pack in the middle of the road.

The bizarre incident was posted on YouTube by CarNewsChina, which also identified the EV as the Cao Cao 60, an SUV manufactured by Geely for its ride-hailing business. 

The Cao Cao 60 is capable of battery swapping as an alternative to charging, and Geely claims the EV can do so in only a minute.

As the video shows, the vehicle is able to travel several metres further after dropping the battery pack before coming to a stop as it lies helpless without a power source.

It's immediately unclear what caused the incident. A flaw in the vehicle's design or the battery-swapping process might play a role, but Cao Cao has yet to issue a statement.

China currently has the most EVs on the road by a long shot, so it's only natural that incidents like these get the spotlight. More than that, battery swapping for four-wheelers has been a challenging proposition, so far only finding a degree of success in China. 

Nio, another Chinese EV company, has allegedly facilitated nearly 23 million battery swaps across 1,484 swapping stations.