4 ms·

To make electric cars really mainstream, I think it would help to make some standard, easily removable battery modules that different manufacturers use. Then th

by gpsx 9y ago

To make electric cars really mainstream, I think it would help to make some standard, easily removable battery modules that different manufacturers use. Then they sell the electyric car without battery and you lease the battery from providers something like a gas stations. It's not a new idea. I think it is just a matter of waiting for the market to be ready. But its kind of a chicken and egg problem.

elsonrodriguez 9y ago
I don't think introducing another recurring payment is the best thing for society. The market will be ready for battery leases when the average person can't afford their own battery outright.
- gpsx 9y ago
  Jsut to be clear, the idea was that you would go to the gas station and trade in an empty battery for a full one. In this case it is better for the people to not own the battery since they will be getting different ones all the time. Of course it would also make sense to allow people to keep the battery and recharge it themselves, in which case they would be paying for holding the battery.
  - craftyguy 9y ago
    I wholeheartedly agree, and believe that this model is the only way to make electric vehicles mainstream. Battery performance/range can only be improved so much with the current technology (and future battery tech. is still a looong ways off), and not everyone is willing to wait tens of minutes to charge their vehicles (e.g. when on long-distance trips.)
e12e 9y ago
> It's not a new idea. Indeed... "In order to overcome the limited operating range of electric vehicles, and the lack of recharging infrastructure, an exchangeable battery service was first proposed as early as 1896. The concept was first put into practice by Hartford Electric Light Company through the GeVeCo battery service and initially available for electric trucks. The vehicle owner purchased the vehicle from General Vehicle Company (GVC, a subsidiary of the General Electric Company) without a battery and the electricity was purchased from Hartford Electric through an exchangeable battery. The owner paid a variable per-mile charge and a monthly service fee to cover maintenance and storage of the truck. Both vehicles and batteries were modified to facilitate a fast battery exchange. The service was provided between 1910 and 1924 and during that period covered more than 6 million miles. Beginning in 1917 a similar successful service was operated in Chicago for owners of Milburn Wagon Company cars who also could buy the vehicle without the batteries." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehi...
mulmen 9y ago
In Taiwan scooters are very common and their two stroke engines are noisy and dirty. The obvious solution is electric scooters. A company called Gogoro [1] makes electric scooters with removable battery packs about the size of a US gallon milk container. They are exchanged in charging racks that look a lot like a propane tank exchange location. I think this model could easily take off in the states, gas stations could be given incentives (tax breaks) for providing a battery exchange point. This could jump start the infrastructure investment and get us closer to a point where car batteries can be exchanged too. [1]: https://www.gogoro.com/ https://www.gogoro.com/

by gpsx 9y ago

elsonrodriguez 9y ago

I don't think introducing another recurring payment is the best thing for society. The market will be ready for battery leases when the average person can't afford their own battery outright.

gpsx 9y ago
Jsut to be clear, the idea was that you would go to the gas station and trade in an empty battery for a full one. In this case it is better for the people to not own the battery since they will be getting different ones all the time. Of course it would also make sense to allow people to keep the battery and recharge it themselves, in which case they would be paying for holding the battery.
- craftyguy 9y ago
  I wholeheartedly agree, and believe that this model is the only way to make electric vehicles mainstream. Battery performance/range can only be improved so much with the current technology (and future battery tech. is still a looong ways off), and not everyone is willing to wait tens of minutes to charge their vehicles (e.g. when on long-distance trips.)

e12e 9y ago

> It's not a new idea. Indeed... "In order to overcome the limited operating range of electric vehicles, and the lack of recharging infrastructure, an exchangeable battery service was first proposed as early as 1896. The concept was first put into practice by Hartford Electric Light Company through the GeVeCo battery service and initially available for electric trucks. The vehicle owner purchased the vehicle from General Vehicle Company (GVC, a subsidiary of the General Electric Company) without a battery and the electricity was purchased from Hartford Electric through an exchangeable battery. The owner paid a variable per-mile charge and a monthly service fee to cover maintenance and storage of the truck. Both vehicles and batteries were modified to facilitate a fast battery exchange. The service was provided between 1910 and 1924 and during that period covered more than 6 million miles. Beginning in 1917 a similar successful service was operated in Chicago for owners of Milburn Wagon Company cars who also could buy the vehicle without the batteries." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehi...

mulmen 9y ago

In Taiwan scooters are very common and their two stroke engines are noisy and dirty. The obvious solution is electric scooters. A company called Gogoro [1] makes electric scooters with removable battery packs about the size of a US gallon milk container. They are exchanged in charging racks that look a lot like a propane tank exchange location. I think this model could easily take off in the states, gas stations could be given incentives (tax breaks) for providing a battery exchange point. This could jump start the infrastructure investment and get us closer to a point where car batteries can be exchanged too. [1]: https://www.gogoro.com/ https://www.gogoro.com/