中文简体For point-by-point acceptance, you can start with four questions: does the cabinet know it is smoking, will a fire in one compartment spread to the next, is cutting power faster than extinguishing the fire, and can the structure contain it.The fire protection design of a battery swap cabinet has four layers: detect early, suppress effectively, cut off quickly, and seal structurally. Beyond these four layers, there is one premise that runs throughout:At what temperature the battery is charged. Below, what to look at is explained in four layers, with Dochion's configuration attached afterward for comparison.
First check whether the cabinet knows it is smoking
Detection is the first layer, and it is the part that can take effect before a fire starts. Three types of sensors each handle one aspect:
Sensor | What is monitored | What is triggered |
|---|---|---|
Smoke sensor inside the compartment | Smoke concentration inside the compartment | Alarm and hand over to the fire suppression system |
Temperature Sensing Probe | Real-time temperature inside the compartment | Linked temperature control, cooling fan starts |
Water immersion detection | Water ingress into the cabinet | Stop charging, or alarm only (varies by vendor) |
Smoke DetectorWhether it is installed inside the compartment or outside the cabinet, this point must be clarified. Installed outside the cabinet, smoke must escape the compartment door before it is sensed; only when installed inside the compartment can it respond at the first moment.
The temperature probe does not suppress fire directly; it links to temperature control.What matters is what the cabinet does with the readings it measures——When the cabinet temperature rises, how do you bring it down, and when it drops, is there heating? This layer is covered separately later.
Water immersion detection looks like a waterproofing accessory, but it is actually electrical protection.You need to see what it does after water gets in: only issue one alarm, or directly stop charging.
The division of labor among Daochong's three probes is: the smoke sensor is inside the compartment,Real-time monitoring of smoke inside the compartment; the temperature probe monitors the temperature inside the compartment in real time and links to the temperature control system; after the water immersion detection is triggeredAutomatically stops charging。
The temperature checkpoint is about keeping it from catching fire
Temperature probes can raise an alarm, but by then it is already one step too late.What truly determines whether a battery will reach the point of runaway is the temperature at which it is charged.
The problem at the high-temperature end is aging. When batteries are charged at high temperatures, side reactions accelerate, internal resistance rises, capacity drops quickly, and the threshold for thermal runaway is also lowered.So you need to look at what compartment temperature triggers heat dissipation, how it dissipates, and whether external heat is blocked.
The low-temperature end is more insidious. When a lithium-ion battery is charged at low temperature, lithium ions do not have time to intercalate into the negative electrode and instead precipitate as metallic lithium on the surface of the negative electrode—this is lithium plating. Part of the plated lithium becomes dead lithium that can never be used again, and this capacity cannot be recovered; if it accumulates, lithium dendrites form, and piercing the separator means an internal short circuit.In winter, "won't charge" is often not a broken charger, but BMS Actively limits the charging current at low temperatures. Without heating, charging is either slow or simply impossible; with heating, you still need to see whether it is whole-cabinet heating or per-compartment heating—When the whole cabinet is heated, if one compartment is needed, the entire cabinet must stay warm.
Daochong handles these two ends separately: the high-temperature end relies on 3200 RPM Enhanced Cooling System, under direct sunlight, keep the compartment temperature at ≤40°C; the low-temperature end isIndependent per-compartment heating system, when below 5–8°C, it automatically heats to around 15°C before charging.
If one compartment catches fire, don't let it burn the one next door
This is the problem that "isolation" needs to solve, and the premise is that each compartment can operate independently.One board manages several compartments at once, so a problem in one compartment may take down several; with a structure of independent per-compartment control, the compartment on fire is handled separately, and the remaining compartments can continue operating.
Fire-extinguishing media also come in several types; aerosol is a common one in battery-swap cabinets: it needs no water pipes and suits the enclosed electrical environment of a cabinet.When purchasing, ask two things clearly: how many grams one device is, and how many compartments it covers. Daochong's cabinet isSingle-compartment single-control, each compartment is equipped with an independent MCU, the fire extinguishing device is equipped with 12g Aerosol, which is automatic fire extinguishing inside the compartment, and the target is the battery compartment. The compartment control also readsFire extinguisher status——Whether the device is in place and functioning normally can be seen from the backend. This is more practical than counting how many units are installed, because an aerosol device becomes ineffective after a single discharge,Spraying it once and never replacing it is the same as not installing it at all。
This device has requirements in the standard that can be checked item by item.GB/T 42236.1—2022 is a recommended national standard and is not mandatory; however, it is currently the standard specifically targeting centralized charging facilities for electric bicycles (including battery swap cabinets)National standard, Article 4.3.9.9 has five items in total: set up an independent fire protection power supply and meet the 60-minute power supply requirement; have fire detection and audible and visual alarm functions; the fire extinguishing medium can reach any charging and swapping unit at the design value;Provides the option of manual and automatic discharge; conduct the fire extinguishing test according to standard 5.3.8.9 e), extinguish within 5 minutes from the visible open flame, with no re-ignition within 15 minutes, and batteries other than the one triggered by thermal runaway do not experience thermal runaway.
Of these five items, the first four are configuration, and the last is a test result.This distinction has practical meaning during procurement: the first four items can be checked on site during acceptance, while the last item cannot be reproduced by the buyer. So what the buyer can verify is the configuration itself—where it is installed, whether it is sufficient, and whether it can be triggered manually; fire suppression testing is a conclusion on the equipment design side and should not be replaced by a phrase like "complies with national standards" or a single document instead of on-site verification.Writing "complies with national standards" on a quotation costs nothing.
There is another relationship worth knowing:In the construction requirements of the three-department "Guidelines", the three items of material selection, charging interface, and fire-fighting facilities all directly cite the corresponding clauses of GB/T 42236.1(This fire protection item cites exactly 4.3.9.9.) Once cited by this document, its clauses become the industry reference benchmark—this is why it still cannot be bypassed during acceptance.
There are also limits on capacity. The same Guidelines state that "the number of battery compartments in each battery swap cabinet generally does not exceed 16."This figure is a reference benchmark, not a mandatory upper limit., and the specific requirements of local fire protection and planning authorities are usually layered on top.
Power cutoff must come earlier than fire suppression
When something really goes wrong, the first action is often not to extinguish the fire, but to cut off the energy.At the electrical protection layer, what matters is not how many items are fitted, but whether each one manages its own circuit and can be reset independently when a fault occurs.
The value of the water immersion circuit is not in whether it alarms, but inWhether power is cut after an alarm—an alarm only solves "knowing"; cutting power solves "not continuing."
Daochong is equipped withOverload andShort-circuit protection, leakage protector, surge protector, and electricity meter together: overload and short-circuit protection handle abnormal currents, the leakage protector handles leakage, the surge protector handles outdoor electrical safety, and the electricity meter provides readings for whole-cabinet detection. Whole-cabinet detection also directly controls two things—starting and stopping the cooling fans, and the power switch of the chargers。
For the structural layer, do not just look at whether the sheet metal is thick
Structural protection is the last layer, and the one most easily mistaken for a "materials issue".What matters is not a single figure for steel plate thickness, but four points: chassis strength, whether the compartment opening withstands impact, whether there are anti-collision parts inside the compartment, and the protection rating of the whole cabinet.
Bay opening deformation sounds like an appearance issue, but it actually affects use:If the door cannot close, battery entry and exit and temperature control inside the bay will both be affected. Batteries are heavy, and pushing them in easily goes off course, so the front end hits the bottom of the compartment first; whether there is a stopper and whether the compartment opening has reinforcing ribs determines how long this part lasts. Daochong's configuration at these four points is:
Component | Daochong's approach |
|---|---|
Enclosure | Thickened sheet metal |
Bay opening | Arched compartment opening with three layers of reinforcing ribs, resisting 50kg impact |
Inside the cabinet | Anti-collision post |
Whole cabinet | IP54 protection (dust protection level 5, splash water protection level 4) |
For compliance, three things need to be verified clearly
The first is the standard on the battery side.GB 43854—2024 "Safety Technical Specifications for Lithium-ion Batteries for Electric Bicycles"It is a mandatory national standard,Released in April 2024, implemented in November, regulating extreme safety indicators for lithium batteries such as overcharge, short circuit, high temperature, and nail penetration.No matter how good the cabinet is, installing a non-compliant battery leaves the risk in place.
The second is the requirement on the operations side. The "Guide for Shared Battery Swapping of Electric Bicycles (Trial)" was issued byJointly issued by the National Fire and Rescue Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration for Market Regulation (Fire [2025] No. 31, July 2025), it links the cabinet body, battery management, site operation and maintenance, and safety control into a single reference framework. Note that it is a guidance document and explicitly states that it "does not constitute mandatory requirements", in nature it is a reference, not a regulation. What the purchaser needs to confirm is not only that the equipment complies, but also whether the operation and maintenance actions can keep up.
The third is whether the scope of certification has been reversed. Here is a point that is often reversed:The complete battery swap cabinet is not within the compulsory product certification catalogue——Announcement No. 26 of 2024 by the State Administration for Market Regulation explicitly excludes battery charging/swap cabinets and charging piles; what requires CCC certification is lithium batteries for electric bicycles (GB 43854) and chargers (GB 42296). So verify along two tracks: for batteries and chargers, check the CCC certificate number and model; the cabinet itself has no such thing as a "certificate"—what you verify is whether the nameplate parameters match the actual machine—rated input power, per-compartment charging voltage and current, and protection rating; these figures can all be found on the nameplate and parameter sheet.If the model or parameters do not match, the certificate does not cover this unit.
Four things that can be done on the spot on acceptance day
- Open the compartment door and confirm that every compartment has a smoke sensor.
- Ask clearly about the grams of the fire extinguishing device and how many compartments one unit covers.
- Trigger water-immersion detection on site and see whether it automatically stops charging or merely pops up an alert.
- Open the distribution box and confirm whether the overload and short-circuit protection, leakage protection, and lightning protection are independent circuits and whether they can be reset separately.
None of these four things require instruments, and they can all be done on the same day.
Final Thoughts
Fire protection has one characteristic:Normally you cannot see the difference; when something goes wrong, there is no second chance. So the criterion should not be "how many features are fitted," but "under what conditions each one acts, and what happens after it acts."
No matter how many configuration lists you read, it is better to do these four things on the spot once.