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NIO has a pretty cool battery swap tech which treats batteries like replenished fuel, over the course of the cars lifetime. The battery gets swapped many times

NIO has a pretty cool battery swap tech which treats batteries like replenished fuel, over the course of the cars lifetime. The battery gets swapped many times depending on the charge levels and location. https://joinyaa.com/guides/nio-battery-swaps-coming-to-america/ https://joinyaa.com/guides/nio-battery-swaps-coming-to-ameri... I kinda wish Tesla would merge with them in China. The car companies should standardize their batteries as well and provide market differentiation on how the car makes efficient use of the power. That would eliminate a lot of waste, kinda like the USB-C standard for mobile devices. EU needs to get on this.

lnsru 4y ago
Not sure about reliability of battery swapping. First thing is that one needs now 2 batteries per car while one battery is being charged somewhere. It’s technically hard problem to connect and disconnect 1000s of cycles coolant lines and thick wires to the very bulky and heavy object. While it works nicely in the demos with new cars it brings huge problems in the reality after couple years.
- chargetimezzzx 4y ago
  2 batteries per car is assuming everyone is charging at the same time. In reality there are people driving their cars while batteries are being charged and new batteries being built. The batteries charge time efficiency over time also plays a role as infrastructure scales. I wouldn't be surprised if we will see this tech in the US soon. Especially after we get back to a somewhat normal business environment with China. Next election I hope. Consumers win when they have more choice.
- VBprogrammer 4y ago
  I'd go as far as to say it doesn't make sense except as an exceptional process, a battery upgrade or replacement due to manufacturing fault. Moving 300kg+ batteries around is just not very sensible. Maybe it might be possible for heavy plant machinery where removing the battery and transporting it to the charger is easier than transporting the machine back to the charge point.
- kwhitefoot 4y ago
  There is a Nio battery swap station next to my nearest Tesla station (Lier South, Norway). No idea how well it works, but it certainly does work. According to Nio they had four million battery swaps in China by the end of 2021. Of course they don't say how many problems occurred.
- ilyt 4y ago
  I'd think you'd be charging the battery as normal 80% of the time and only swap when you're for longer trip. But yeah, that seems more viable for stuff like electric scooters/motorcycles, as the cost of infrastructure would be much lower.

lnsru 4y ago

Not sure about reliability of battery swapping. First thing is that one needs now 2 batteries per car while one battery is being charged somewhere. It’s technically hard problem to connect and disconnect 1000s of cycles coolant lines and thick wires to the very bulky and heavy object. While it works nicely in the demos with new cars it brings huge problems in the reality after couple years.

chargetimezzzx 4y ago
2 batteries per car is assuming everyone is charging at the same time. In reality there are people driving their cars while batteries are being charged and new batteries being built. The batteries charge time efficiency over time also plays a role as infrastructure scales. I wouldn't be surprised if we will see this tech in the US soon. Especially after we get back to a somewhat normal business environment with China. Next election I hope. Consumers win when they have more choice.
VBprogrammer 4y ago
I'd go as far as to say it doesn't make sense except as an exceptional process, a battery upgrade or replacement due to manufacturing fault. Moving 300kg+ batteries around is just not very sensible. Maybe it might be possible for heavy plant machinery where removing the battery and transporting it to the charger is easier than transporting the machine back to the charge point.
kwhitefoot 4y ago
There is a Nio battery swap station next to my nearest Tesla station (Lier South, Norway). No idea how well it works, but it certainly does work. According to Nio they had four million battery swaps in China by the end of 2021. Of course they don't say how many problems occurred.
ilyt 4y ago
I'd think you'd be charging the battery as normal 80% of the time and only swap when you're for longer trip. But yeah, that seems more viable for stuff like electric scooters/motorcycles, as the cost of infrastructure would be much lower.