Battery swapping is a technology that could solve one key barrier for EV adoption: consumers’ range anxiety and the long waiting time for battery charging. Wouldn’t you feel more assured on a weekend trip if you knew you could stop at a swap station and replace depleted battery packs with fully charged ones in five minutes? But this isn’t easy to do, as Tesla and Better Place’s past failures. In China, however, battery swapping has been a reality for a couple of years. How did Chinese companies like Nio make it work with 2,300 swapping stations nationwide? What can companies outside China learn from the Chinese experience?

See, Apple? Even cars can do it :)

  • BastingChemina@slrpnk.netEnglish
    19·
    4 months ago

    I stopped reading the article there.

    Either the author is voluntarily misleading or he has no idea of what he is talking about.

    Here is the map all the fast charging stations (>100kW) along the way between Paris and the Mont St Michel.

    The Tesla model 3 in Europe uses the standard combo CCS plug so it can use all of these stations.

    https://files.catbox.moe/8v8j4l.png

    I did not count them but at a first glance the number of charger is higher than “none”

    Edit: OK I read the article after all but I really don’t see what problem battery swapping would solve.

    I could see a use case for public transport that has to go a specific road and need to run non stop every days but even then I suspect that having overhead cable on a short section to charge the battery while running would be more appropriate than battery swapping.

    The article is talking about the lack of charging station but battery swapping just make the problem way way worse. A battery charger is just a parking spot and a high voltage AC - DC transformer connected to the grid. It’s relatively cheap and easy to install, does not take much space and work for all electric cars compared to a battery swapping station that can only work for one specific brand (specific model too ?) need robotics and plenty of storage. Its much harder and expensive to install and you need one charging station per brand. This means less stations overall.

    Finally there is the speed of charging, this is true that battery swapping is probably faster than fast charging but honestly I don’t find charging an electric car that inconvenient.

    On long highway trips I need to stop around 20 minutes every 2 hours, a 20 minutes break every 2 hours is not that bad, just enough time for a toilet break, a quick coffee before going back on the road.

    • Grimy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      4 months ago

      The cost to install stations would dramatically reduce if you had one stations that could supply 20 parking lots instead of one station for each two lots.

      It also shuts up all the complaints about batteries going dead and the cost of replacing them.

      I do agree ice vehicles are already very convenient and most people complaining are mostly just parroting oil propoganda, but making them even more convenient isn’t a bad thing.

      I don’t think many run their batteries to the ground but it’s nice to know someone can just bring you a spare if you do.

      • umami_wasabi@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        I’m complaining about the battery station model, not about the EV in general.

        I have a few points to point out:

        1. Battery pack recycle is still expensive and complex. It isn’t an engine block you can disassemble, melt, and mold for something else.
        2. Ownership is a huge problem. This ties tightly to right to repair. Say your car broke down, now you’re almost certainly need to go through the dealer or the manufacture because the battery isn’t yours.
        3. This impacts the life expectancy of the vehicle. Once the battery model for your car is EOL, you either stuck with the last battery swapped in, or worst you need to return the battery and have a non-functional car.
        4. Resell value. Battery is one of the most critical component on an EV. You might not able to resell it at a satisfaction price as you don’t have a battery, even it is fitted a leased one as the next owner need to pay the subscription continuously.

        Actually, I’m not a fan of ICEV nor EV. ICEV pollutes when they run, EV pollutes when they need to be disassemble and recycle. It is simply not happening in front of your eyes doesn’t mean it is not. We all need to look at the overall carbon footprint (I can’t think of another better word), from manufacturing to the end of life. For EV and its battery, starts from mining rare earth elements.

        I’m more on to the Hydrogen Vehicle, especially fuel cells. IMO the development in this low, and small (at least I don’t see much news about it).

    • Rinox@feddit.itEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      for one specific brand (specific model too ?)

      Probably one platform (used for several models, sometimes shared between brands. For instance VW Polo, Audi A1, Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia are all based on the same platform).

      Unless you have cars with modular battery packs, which do not exist right now.