Hot Swap

[d000hg]

Will swapping out electric car batteries catch on?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61310513

Interesting to see people are still pushing this model. I have always maintained it's inherently better but even if I'm right that doesn't mean it will win adoption. It just seems far neater, not only do you solve the problem of charging times but you don't need the huge supply infrastructure to charging stations. You can transport batteries like you do petrol from site to site and potentially have huge charging depots in convenient locations (like next to a power station).
Not being stuck with an aging battery also seems good.

It always interests me to think about just how anyone drives adoption/infrastructure on such a scale. Competing standards and so on mean a huge amount of work will be done and then ripped up when someone 'wins' or a standard is agreed (another fascinating topic).

[vetran]

batteries age quickly

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/electric...atteries-last/

it will have to be a subscription model from new.

[Paddy]

Hot-swap will be an easy way to tax EVs

[hobnob]

The Renault Zoe used to be sold without a battery, then you'd lease the battery. The theory was that you'd avoid any problems from the battery aging, but the downside is the extra cost (e.g. £59/month for 4500 miles/year or £110/month for unlimited distance). The lease cost is particularly significant when you want to buy/sell the car second hand. Newer models now include the battery in the purchase price, i.e. Renault are abandoning the "battery lease" business model, and I haven't heard of any other companies embracing it.

More generally, this will depend on how you use the vehicle. E.g. if you can do your daily commute (round trip) on a single charge and then plug the EV in at home to charge overnight, you wouldn't need to swap the battery. As the BBC article says, it might make sense for taxi drivers, but probably not for people who only need to use service stations when they go on holiday.

[TheDude]

I don't know any electric car owners that regularly check their rear axel for a build up of fluff.

It was a performance killer for Scalextric cars and would undoubtedly affect the efficiency of their bigger brothers.

[jamesbrown]

Oh, I thought this was a thread for Swingers.

[d000hg]

batteries age quickly

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/electric...atteries-last/

it will have to be a subscription model from new.

You've quoted an article which says the opposite, are you thinking if you make a statement with a link it looks trustworthy because nobody will check?

Conclusion

---

The decline in EV battery capacity over time is only really of concern if you're buying a used car – or planning to retain a new one for many years. Even then, any loss of range will only be slow and gradual.

For all intents and purposes, the lifespan of EV batteries and therefore the useful ‘first-life’ of an EV itself is broadly comparable to that of a traditional combustion car.

Even after the EV and its battery are having a second life off the road, the ability – and commercial incentive – to recycle used EV batteries should soften any lingering long-term environmental doubts or concerns.

So if/when cars with this technology come around, you can expect to be able to buy in to the scheme at any point - art from anything else they will want to entice you in and eat any initial loss.

I wonder if we would see a competitive market with multiple providers, eventually.

[vetran]

You've quoted an article which says the opposite, are you thinking if you make a statement with a link it looks trustworthy because nobody will check?
So if/when cars with this technology come around, you can expect to be able to buy in to the scheme at any point - art from anything else they will want to entice you in and eat any initial loss.

I wonder if we would see a competitive market with multiple providers, eventually.

odd

Battery degradation won’t hugely affect the EV’s performance in terms of acceleration, refinement or cruising ability. It will lessen the range, but even an eight-year-old Nissan Leaf may only see losses of around 20% versus new, according to independent tests.¹

So your 1 year old leaf gets an 8 year old battery as a hot swap and you are happy?

[d000hg]

So your 1 year old leaf gets an 8 year old battery as a hot swap and you are happy?

Sure, why not? I only have it until the next swap. And the provider would be responsible for making sure that failing batteries are weeded out, just like Calor have to retire the gas bottles that don't meet minimum requirements. Batteries would be checked and serviced frequently rather than the same one stuck in your car for 8 years.