6 ms·
Because the battery swap model doesn't exist. It's a cool idea, but it's not right here right now.
by revelation 14y ago
Because the battery swap model doesn't exist. It's a cool idea, but it's not right here right now.
- JohnsonB 14y agoYou can build swap stations incrementally though just like they are building these supercharging stations, so I don't see what the difference is, other than swapping is quicker/better.
- todayiamme 14y agoYou're forgetting that in the case of Telsa's car the entire battery pack is a part of the undercarriage and hot swapping in that case is quite difficult.
- jpxxx 14y agoI've heard otherwise: hot-swapping was a design goal if not yet supported.
- schiffern 14y ago> quicker/better Quicker may be true, but "better"? Swap stations are more expensive, they constrain vehicle design, battery shape, and battery technology upgradeability. This makes the vehicle some combination of heavier, less safe, or more expensive (pick your poison). People don't seem to realize that the limiting factor for charge rate isn't current. It's cooling. A far simpler solution would just pump coolant through the charging port so that a large off-board cooler can be used. The cells in the Leaf and Volt could be fully charged in 20 minutes with adequate cooling. Independent (though amateur) tests by RC hobbyists have demonstrated hundreds of cycles at that charge rate with little loss in capacity. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=672512 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=672512
- sbierwagen 14y agocooling ? The Roadster has a water-cooled battery pack, and I assume the Model S does too.
- schiffern 14y agoIt's not the size of the pipes. It's the size of the chiller.
- recuter 14y agoI've been in a Better Place car here in Israel and experienced the swap, it works. Also, Shai Agassi recently completed a full cross country trip (North to South). Small country, but still. What makes you think this is not a viable solution?
- spullara 14y agoIsrael is only 263 miles from north to south. The Tesla S (85kwH)can go 300 miles. Seems like the Tesla might be overkill for that country.
- kamaal 14y agoHmm, This seems to be a perfect use case for Israel.If you are a regular office goer, charge once and may be use it for a whole week and half.
- sbierwagen 14y ago"Small country" is a bit of an overstatement. If Israel was a US state, it'd be the 47th largest.
- marshray 14y agoYou mean the 3rd smallest? That doesn't sound very big.
- jlgreco 14y agoExactly. It's about the same shape and size as New Jersey (smaller actually). I can't count the number of times I've driven across the entirety of New Jersey without a second thought because I wanted a cheeseburger.
- kamaal 14y agoOne poster says Israel is around 263 miles north to south. So you drove ~250 miles many times just to get a cheese burger? Seriously?
- danboarder 14y agoDrivers are already using battery swap stations in Israel and a few other test areas. Swap for a full battery takes less than 5 minutes. The cars built to work with this system are Renault and Nissan I believe. Check out the standardized batteries (drivers subscribe to a 'battery plan' so any full battery is works the same). video: Drive Switch Go - Better Place short video http://youtu.be/VR3oLV4fdcE http://youtu.be/VR3oLV4fdcE longer video http://youtu.be/S3Os25gP4yA http://youtu.be/S3Os25gP4yA //edited to add video links
- brc 14y agoBattery swap technology constrains car design. The Model S, I believe, sandwiches the battery packs throughout the car to avoid one big lump of mass sitting somewhere. While I think the battery swap idea is a good one, it has many problems, not the least of which is getting all the manufacturers to agree to a myriad of standards. And agreeing to many of those standards means delegating part of your design process.
- hamai 14y agoIt's beyond difficult for costumers to agree on 30min waits between 3h runs.