Battery Swap

[George and Dragon]

It seems there's a market, in China at least, for swappable batteries in cars. I wonder if this will also extend to the new electric boats that I'm sure are just around the corner...

 

https://www.electronicdesign.com/markets/automotive/article/21156398/electronic-design-ev-battery-swapping-revisited

[BEngo]

Battery swap is viable if there are enough swap points and if battery management is good enough to ensure you always get a fully performing battery.   Cost factors may need to be included, so as to deter, or at least penalise, the boy racer type who empties the battery in half the distance it could do.

 

EV charging also relies on adequate charge point distribution and quantity,  and can be backed up, for some at least, by home chargers.

I would not be surprised to see a dual offering develop.  City/local transport vehicles as rechargeable.  Multi vehicle  fleets and  long distance vehicles as swappables, probably with the option  of a home charger

 

Neither variety is going large scale in canal boats in the next few years IMO.  Hybrids might.

N

Edited February 27, 2021 by BEngo

[Detling]

The only way this will become a viable option, is if governments and standards bodies around the world sit round a table and produce specifications, like we have for AAA, AA, B etc. Otherwise every manufacturer will do their own thing and they will change the type every few years to ensure you have to buy new stuff, think of Apple phones and their charger requirements.

 

But yes it would be a very good option, to be able to drive to a service point and swap a battery would enable long distance travel (250 miles plus in a day I have in the past exceded 400 miles) and solve the on street parking issue which effects 40% of car owners who cannot home charge currently.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Detling

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Another company having a go at battery swapping for cars. As with a lot of things, success is unlikely to depend on technical prowess alone, but on capturing a market, funding, standardisation and a big dose of timing and luck. They comment that building a car with a huge  battery bank to get range leads to a lot of waste transporting that weight most of the time when it isn't needed for short journeys where they can be charged, or swapped regularly. Their idea is that you would swap, or charge a small number of batteries frequently and load up with more for long trips in to the wilds with fewer charge, or swap stations. The seem to have thought through the dividing line between battery, car interface, mechanical, cabling, cooling system and control electronics to make it interface with as many cars and battery types as possible.