OREANDA-NEWS. January 18, 2013. Anhui province's first battery exchange station for electric vehicles (EVs) was set up, local sources said.

The facility is located at the junction of Shixin Road and Yungu Road in the economic development zone of Hefei, capital of Anhui province, covering an area of some 10,000 sqm. It will allow a maximum of 50 electric vehicles to replace dead batteries at the same time.

The battery swap station will make it possible to travel long distances in an EV without the trouble of stopping to recharge the battery for more than seven hours.

"It takes merely five to eight minutes to make a swap," a staff member said.

Batteries can also be recharged in that station. Another of the same kind is said to be built in the hi-tech zone. There have been six EV charging stations across the city.