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I hope Competition (as a verb) will do what it does best - make the product offering better and cheaper. Next step for electric cars would be to address issues

by sh87 7y ago

I hope Competition (as a verb) will do what it does best - make the product offering better and cheaper. Next step for electric cars would be to address issues for non-home-owners (like me) and consequently can't find a convenient way to charge up an electric car. Hot swappable batteries come to mind.

cogman10 7y ago
I don't think that will ever really be a thing. The problem with hot swap batteries is that you are trading a battery of unknown quality for something else. Imagine swapping in a 10 yo battery for brand new battery. That would kind of suck. The thing that will probably make things more tenable for non-home owners will be bigger battery densities. If you get 500 miles of range on a charge, then stopping by a fast charger once or twice a week wouldn't really be all that big of an issue. You don't even have to go to 100%, just enough to cover a week's worth of commuting. The other thing that would make this better is a bigger source of public L2 or even L1 chargers.
- sh87 7y ago
  Well there are ways to make a battery trade work but in this case Yes I agree, A wider network of L1/L2 chargers seems economically profitable over time and realistic. But unless a reliable charger is at walking distance from my apartment, no electric car is going to work out for me.
  - cogman10 7y ago
    10 minutes of charging on a fast charger can give you 56 miles of range (assuming 100kW charge rate, 300 Wh/mi). You don't have to park your car for hours or walk. Assuming a fast charger is enroute. Ideally, you'd pair shopping with charging, in that case electrify America chargers are often located in Walmart parking lots. L1 and L2 chargers are more ideal for work or home parking. They'd be better for your battery in the long run, but a fast charger would do in the short run.
  - 205guy 7y ago
    If you commute by car, what about being able to charge where you work (or park for work)? I think that's even more necessary than apartment or street charging. The car is just sitting there and the daylight hours are best for solar electricity on the grid, so it's win-win. You can even take a work break to move your car so the chargers are fully utilized by other EV commuters.
jsight 7y ago
The idea of swapping batteries comes up from time to time, and I used to be a big fan of the idea as well. But over time, I've developed a lot of doubts. It adds a significant amount of complexity, it adds logistics challenges, and it adds significant cost. The alternative is more chargers in more places and bigger batteries. Chargers are actually pretty cheap, especially the 50 KW chargers (or less) that work well as destination chargers at offices, hotels, restaurants, malls, grocery stores and other locations. Increases in battery capacity directly lead to vastly greater #s of miles per day with lower charge times. Swapping just isn't necessary or economic.
- sh87 7y ago
  Yes the notion of swappable battery comes from small form factors like phones and toys. For cars, the way to go is wider charger network and scaling the battery capacity (horizontally or vertically).

by sh87 7y ago

cogman10 7y ago

I don't think that will ever really be a thing. The problem with hot swap batteries is that you are trading a battery of unknown quality for something else. Imagine swapping in a 10 yo battery for brand new battery. That would kind of suck. The thing that will probably make things more tenable for non-home owners will be bigger battery densities. If you get 500 miles of range on a charge, then stopping by a fast charger once or twice a week wouldn't really be all that big of an issue. You don't even have to go to 100%, just enough to cover a week's worth of commuting. The other thing that would make this better is a bigger source of public L2 or even L1 chargers.

sh87 7y ago
Well there are ways to make a battery trade work but in this case Yes I agree, A wider network of L1/L2 chargers seems economically profitable over time and realistic. But unless a reliable charger is at walking distance from my apartment, no electric car is going to work out for me.
- cogman10 7y ago
  10 minutes of charging on a fast charger can give you 56 miles of range (assuming 100kW charge rate, 300 Wh/mi). You don't have to park your car for hours or walk. Assuming a fast charger is enroute. Ideally, you'd pair shopping with charging, in that case electrify America chargers are often located in Walmart parking lots. L1 and L2 chargers are more ideal for work or home parking. They'd be better for your battery in the long run, but a fast charger would do in the short run.
- 205guy 7y ago
  If you commute by car, what about being able to charge where you work (or park for work)? I think that's even more necessary than apartment or street charging. The car is just sitting there and the daylight hours are best for solar electricity on the grid, so it's win-win. You can even take a work break to move your car so the chargers are fully utilized by other EV commuters.

jsight 7y ago

The idea of swapping batteries comes up from time to time, and I used to be a big fan of the idea as well. But over time, I've developed a lot of doubts. It adds a significant amount of complexity, it adds logistics challenges, and it adds significant cost. The alternative is more chargers in more places and bigger batteries. Chargers are actually pretty cheap, especially the 50 KW chargers (or less) that work well as destination chargers at offices, hotels, restaurants, malls, grocery stores and other locations. Increases in battery capacity directly lead to vastly greater #s of miles per day with lower charge times. Swapping just isn't necessary or economic.

sh87 7y ago
Yes the notion of swappable battery comes from small form factors like phones and toys. For cars, the way to go is wider charger network and scaling the battery capacity (horizontally or vertically).