Not sure it’s practical to hot swap EV batteries right now.
“An electric vehicle battery typically weighs between 300 kg (660 pounds) and 900 kg (2,000 pounds).”
https://poweringautos.com/how-much-does-an-electric-car-batt...
Not sure it’s practical to hot swap EV batteries right now.
“An electric vehicle battery typically weighs between 300 kg (660 pounds) and 900 kg (2,000 pounds).”
https://poweringautos.com/how-much-does-an-electric-car-batt...
The weight is the most trivial problem to solve in this whole problem chain. A hydraulic lifting apparatus capable of moving a ton that fits under a passenger car is something that exists today.
Getting automakers to agree to a standardized form factor (and to not put non-battery components in their battery packs ala Tesla,) automatically locating and removing whatever retentioning mechanism is used, having a large enough stock of batteries at each “filling station”, etc. are more difficult problems.
But, as I said, I hope this does happen in the future.
https://www.nio.com/nio-power?&noredirect=
But it begs a question, who’s liable when the battery is swapped to some faulty unit that catches fire when it’s in your car?
Presumably the battery network would have insurance and would factor that into the cost.
(I’d expect that all-in, this gets a lot closer to the cost of a gasoline fill-up. My current charging costs are far lower than the equivalent cost to fill up with gasoline, but my primary interest in this is environmental. I’ll take the lower cost while I can get it, but I don’t expect it to last forever.)
It's possible, NIO has battery swap stations, but I don't think it's really viable.
This is especially true, given that advances in battery tech, and fast charging are going to eliminate the need. Recharging as fast a petro fuel filling have already been demo'd.
Of course, here in the US we don't need any of that commonist technology. We're all so great, we're gonna say "Please, Please, don't make me any greater!". Can't wait 8-/
So, qualify what I wrote before with: _in_China_ they'll be able to charge as fast as a refuel.