Operational Strategy Selection for Vehicle Manufacturers in the Battery Swapping Supply Chain

The vehicle–battery separation (VBS) model offers a viable framework for promoting new energy vehicle (NEV) adoption. To facilitate its broader diffusion, this study examines a supply chain comprising a vehicle manufacturer and a third-party operator for the battery leasing and swapping (BLS) services under this business model, from the perspective of automakers. Within this framework, three service operation strategies are developed for the automaker: (1) self-operated swapping services (VYN strategy); (2) self-operated leasing services (VNY strategy); and (3) full outsourcing of both services (VNN strategy). A comparative analysis yields three main findings. First, the automaker achieves the highest profit under strategy VNY, whereas the third-party operator prefers to cooperate with an automaker that adopts strategy VNN. Second, whether VNN or VNY yields higher total supply chain profit is determined by swapping price sensitivity and the vehicle’s base price: the VNN strategy is optimal when both parameters are low, and the VNY strategy is optimal otherwise. Third, to promote the adoption of battery-swappable vehicles, automakers should outsource battery swapping services (i.e., adopt strategy VNY or VNN). By contrast, leasing operations are better outsourced (through VYN or VNN) when the goal is to grow the swapping service market.