6 ms·

Looking at my phone and macbook with built-in batteries, I realize a car with a swappable battery is not something we can achieve as humanity.

• joe_the_user 5y ago
  The thing about phones and laptops is that they have the excuse that miniaturization makes this necessary (it's still an excuse but it's better cover). And current systems essentially have the lifetime of the battery. Cars should be a different story but we'll have to fight for that even.
  • hunter2_ 5y ago
    And ingress protection, which requires excellent seals, which need a bit of know-how (i.e., a shop) to correctly reapply. At least that's what I like to tell myself.
    • BenjiWiebe 5y ago
      My Samsung Galaxy S5 is IP67 rated. I can pop the back cover with my fingernail and swap the battery in seconds.
    • bestouff 5y ago
      Cars too need miniaturisation and sealing. To an extent.
    • richardw 5y ago
      2025: “But the chassis is the battery! Absolutely needs to be disposable”
    • KptMarchewa 5y ago
      Which laptops actually do that? Besides the fanless macbook air, overwhelming majority of laptops ingest and push out air.
  • hoseja 5y ago
    Cars use the battery as a structural component.
    • deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    • dotancohen 5y ago
      Not at all. The batteries are often mounted _inside_ structural components, but they themselves are not load bearing.
      • hoseja 5y ago
        https://electrek.co/2021/10/10/tesla-unveils-new-structural-battery-pack-with-4680-cells-gigafactory-berlin/ https://electrek.co/2021/10/10/tesla-unveils-new-structural-...
        • dotancohen 5y ago
          That is a battery pack, not a battery. Battery packs are structural components for safety reasons more than anything. Weight and volume savings are secondary to safety in regards to anything with high energy density, be it a battery pack, fuel cell, or gas tank. But though they _contain_ batteries, a battery pack is not a battery any more than a car is an engine. The battery inside the battery pack remains non-structural and non-load-bearing.
          • hoseja 5y ago
            >with the battery cells helping to solidify the platform as one big unit The individual cylinders are made from steel. The steel is used structurally. Perhaps next you'll tell me the "battery" is actually just the anode, cathode and electrolyte?
            • pedrocr 5y ago
              As far as I can tell so far no one has used the individual cell cylinders as load bearing components, only the battery box. Tesla's "structural battery" is aiming to do that and have the individual cell cylinders carry loads.
• richardw 5y ago
  A few Chinese companies are doing it. Eg: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-geely-set-up-5000-battery-swapping-stations-by-2025-2021-09-26/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas...
  • dragonelite 5y ago
    Nio is also doing it, not sure if they have created a standard bodies for it.
    • Gravityloss 5y ago
      Here's Nio battery swap in action https://youtu.be/hTsrDpsYHrw?t=407 https://youtu.be/hTsrDpsYHrw?t=407
• asimovfan 5y ago
  It depends on 1 ("one") legislation. Its not like theres inherently anything stopping this from happening except the insatiable hunger of some rich dudes. I believe the EU is forcing the iphones to have usb-c?
• tchvil 5y ago
  It was tried and failed: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company) That doesn't mean it wouldn't work today, but probably a harder problem than it looks.
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• tim333 5y ago
  I've swapped batteries in iphone and macbooks several times. Just because the manufacturer doesn't really want you to do it doesn't mean you can't do it.