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 :)

  • umami_wasabi@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I don’t oppose the idea of battery station, but who owns the battery then? When I bought the car, am I leasing the battery? How about used car?

    • slaacaa@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      The company (NIO) owns them and you are leasing the batteries. The car is cheaper this way, as you don’t buy the battery up front, but pay a monthly fee (~200+ in Germany).

      You have a fixed number of swaps per month, above that you have to pay extra.

      Source: colleague uses a car like this and explained the details.

      • umami_wasabi@lemmy.mlEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        What if they EOL the battery and stops the leasing program? Now the perfectly fine car is non functional because it’s missing a battery. If I replace it, I’m just contributing more waste, not in materal but energy. Is that the “green” future we all after?

        • MaggiWuerze@feddit.deEnglish
          0·
          4 months ago

          I’d assume you could still charge them the regular way. You’d just no longer get a fresh one, but that just puts you on par with the other EVs

    • Username@feddit.deEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      I would guess a swappable battery would be separated from the vehicle, similar to a gas bottle for a grill.

      The battery would be rented for a small deposit and on swapping you only pay the energy + service fee.

      I guess you could also buy one to own, but then could not swap that.

      That’s how it would make sense, at least.

  • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    When 52% of all trips made are less than 3 miles and less than 2% are over fifty miles, I don’t think battery swapping is something any individual needs on a regular basis.

    I could get on board if manufacturers were making $10,000 sub 50 mile vehicles that were compatible with a swap station so you could switch to a larger battery for the weekend. This would have to be a standard adopted by all however, and even before that, they’d have to make small cars. Which they won’t, because we all know they are too busy making trucks and SUVs.

    • eldavi@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      I could get on board if manufacturers were making $10,000 sub 50 mile vehicles that were compatible with a swap station so you could switch to a larger battery for the weekend. This would have to be a standard adopted by all however, and even before that, they’d have to make small cars. Which they won’t, because we all know they are too busy making trucks and SUVs.

      they make $10k ev’s with 250 mile ranges that are for sale everywhere except the united states & canada. you can get them in australia or western europe for a 50-75%-ish tariff depending on which country you’re in…

      • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        Without knowing any examples of the vehicles that are for sale everywhere except, roughly, half the world, I can’t really say much them. What I can say is that compared to the monstrous subsidies the oil and gas industry recieve, it does seem like those tariffs could be done away with. At least on the face of it, perhaps the issue is more intricate than that but I’m sure you grasp my meaning.