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So instead of having a few parking spots with charging stations, now you need to have some sort of hydraulic lift system to swap out a multi-ton battery. And a

by greedo 6y ago

So instead of having a few parking spots with charging stations, now you need to have some sort of hydraulic lift system to swap out a multi-ton battery. And a facility to store these batteries (and charge them). Oh and these batteries are quite valuable, at least half the price of the EV. You would also need to have different size batteries, based on the EV model, the battery model (LF or SF), etc etc. You would have to staff these Battery Swap (I'll call them BS) facilities for when the machinery breaks down, or damages a car, or any other of a myriad number of problems. You would also need substantial real estate for this BS facility, zoned appropriately. Or you could simply install some automated charging stations that don't require any of this CAPEX or headache. Pretty easy to see why this is the model Tesla pursued.

LinuxBender 6y ago
I am not considering parking spots at all. That is where the traditional charge stations would remain. This would be for modernizing gas stations, or adding refueling stations anywhere there is room for a "drive through". No hydraulics. Just a set of carbide gears and points that push on a set of battery module releases one set at a time. Old module roles out, new module roles in. Never more than 1 disconnected at a time to ensure vehicle does not lose power. I envision that with time, the speed allowed in the drive-through should increase exponentially, speeding up commute times. No stopping, no lifting, just keep driving.
- nickik 6y ago
  Tesla tried this and they realized its a bad idea. Standardizing a mechanism like this is insanely complex so for the most part it would be 'per company'. And even within the vehicles of one company, changing a Model S and Cybertruck battery is very challenge. Even assuming all of that works, it requires you to totally change the whole engineering on the car. Designing the car to have battery swap makes it far more complex to integrate the battery pack with the vehicle structure and makes it more difficult to protect the battery. Tesla moved away from even having the option of a swapable battery when they added extra protection on the bottom of the car to prevent more fires and accidents like that. NIO in China does operate a system like that, but the swap stations are human operated. So you drive up, hand over your car to a person, who drives it into the swap station for you and returns it. Its also incredibly expensive to build these stations, let alone operate 1000s of them.
- greedo 6y ago
  Have you looked at the size of the battery pack in a Tesla? Imagine a "gas station" being able to store at least 10-20 of them, as well as all the machinery that swaps them. Then figure that the value of 20 battery packs is roughly $15K each. Then add the facilities cost, rent, staffing, insurance etc. A gas station is pretty cheap overall, just tanks and self-service pumps with a stooge selling cigarettes inside. The value proposition just isn't there.

by greedo 6y ago

LinuxBender 6y ago

I am not considering parking spots at all. That is where the traditional charge stations would remain. This would be for modernizing gas stations, or adding refueling stations anywhere there is room for a "drive through". No hydraulics. Just a set of carbide gears and points that push on a set of battery module releases one set at a time. Old module roles out, new module roles in. Never more than 1 disconnected at a time to ensure vehicle does not lose power. I envision that with time, the speed allowed in the drive-through should increase exponentially, speeding up commute times. No stopping, no lifting, just keep driving.

nickik 6y ago
Tesla tried this and they realized its a bad idea. Standardizing a mechanism like this is insanely complex so for the most part it would be 'per company'. And even within the vehicles of one company, changing a Model S and Cybertruck battery is very challenge. Even assuming all of that works, it requires you to totally change the whole engineering on the car. Designing the car to have battery swap makes it far more complex to integrate the battery pack with the vehicle structure and makes it more difficult to protect the battery. Tesla moved away from even having the option of a swapable battery when they added extra protection on the bottom of the car to prevent more fires and accidents like that. NIO in China does operate a system like that, but the swap stations are human operated. So you drive up, hand over your car to a person, who drives it into the swap station for you and returns it. Its also incredibly expensive to build these stations, let alone operate 1000s of them.
greedo 6y ago
Have you looked at the size of the battery pack in a Tesla? Imagine a "gas station" being able to store at least 10-20 of them, as well as all the machinery that swaps them. Then figure that the value of 20 battery packs is roughly $15K each. Then add the facilities cost, rent, staffing, insurance etc. A gas station is pretty cheap overall, just tanks and self-service pumps with a stooge selling cigarettes inside. The value proposition just isn't there.