4 ms·

Would also work on cars. It's the only way to retain the convenience of gasoline-powered cars of driving to a gas station, filling up real quick and then contin

Would also work on cars. It's the only way to retain the convenience of gasoline-powered cars of driving to a gas station, filling up real quick and then continuing your trip vs. having to wait for the car to "fast" charge for half an hour. Gas stations would turn into massive storage facilities to store replacement batteries, but is that any less feasible than massive parking lots for charging cars simultaneously? Not to mention the massive peak current that needs to be supported, which could be spread out evenly over 24 hours if the batteries were in storage.

victorbjorklund 3y ago
They used to have that in Israel. You drove your car to a swap station and it just swapped your battery for a charged one. They went belly up though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company)
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
  That was a full decade ago they went out of business. Perhaps the tech is more viable now for a multitude of reasons.
  - mike_hock 3y ago
    > The company's financial difficulties were caused by mismanagement, wasteful efforts to establish toeholds and run pilots in too many countries, the high investment required to develop the charging and swapping infrastructure, and a market penetration far lower than originally predicted by Shai Agassi. In other words, you can't bootstrap this thing on a shoestring budget (relatively speaking). It will work if governments will it into existence. They're also gonna have to will an electrical grid into existence that can support 3-5 times the current load if they want to ban combustion cars.
recursive 3y ago
The increase in weight and complexity to the car kind of kills this.
- tuatoru 3y ago
  Why? How big is the penalty?
  - recursive 3y ago
    I can't find the sources now, so take it with an appropriate degree of skepticism, but I heard it on an EV podcast or something. I believe Tesla was working on a project like this years ago and abandoned it. They opted to go for structural packs instead.
schrodinger 3y ago
The skeptic in me worries about the opportunities this would open for bad actors. Imagine a "cartel" that buys low-value batteries (many charge cycles), swaps them out, and resells the new one. Or gas stations that do the same in reverse, give you a poorer battery in return for a good one, and then sells the good one. It would require aligned interests and strong regulation to work, I think.
- mike_hock 3y ago
  You get gas with at least the posted octane number. You're gonna get a battery with at least the posted capacity. I don't see why this wouldn't work the same way. And then there's online reviews. Customers wouldn't want to swap at shops that swap in junk batteries.
  - schrodinger 3y ago
    I hope that logic works out. But a battery costs like 1,000x a tank of gas so the incentives are far higher…

victorbjorklund 3y ago

They used to have that in Israel. You drove your car to a swap station and it just swapped your battery for a charged one. They went belly up though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company)

SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
That was a full decade ago they went out of business. Perhaps the tech is more viable now for a multitude of reasons.
- mike_hock 3y ago
  > The company's financial difficulties were caused by mismanagement, wasteful efforts to establish toeholds and run pilots in too many countries, the high investment required to develop the charging and swapping infrastructure, and a market penetration far lower than originally predicted by Shai Agassi. In other words, you can't bootstrap this thing on a shoestring budget (relatively speaking). It will work if governments will it into existence. They're also gonna have to will an electrical grid into existence that can support 3-5 times the current load if they want to ban combustion cars.

recursive 3y ago

The increase in weight and complexity to the car kind of kills this.

tuatoru 3y ago
Why? How big is the penalty?
- recursive 3y ago
  I can't find the sources now, so take it with an appropriate degree of skepticism, but I heard it on an EV podcast or something. I believe Tesla was working on a project like this years ago and abandoned it. They opted to go for structural packs instead.

schrodinger 3y ago

The skeptic in me worries about the opportunities this would open for bad actors. Imagine a "cartel" that buys low-value batteries (many charge cycles), swaps them out, and resells the new one. Or gas stations that do the same in reverse, give you a poorer battery in return for a good one, and then sells the good one. It would require aligned interests and strong regulation to work, I think.

mike_hock 3y ago
You get gas with at least the posted octane number. You're gonna get a battery with at least the posted capacity. I don't see why this wouldn't work the same way. And then there's online reviews. Customers wouldn't want to swap at shops that swap in junk batteries.
- schrodinger 3y ago
  I hope that logic works out. But a battery costs like 1,000x a tank of gas so the incentives are far higher…