Sure swappable batteries would help EV adoption, but are they practical?
Project Better Place battery swap - Click above for hi-res image gallery
Battery swapping is controversial subject in the realm of electric vehicles. Many EV advocates favor the concept, but aside from Renault-Nissan almost no other automaker is supporting the concept at this point. A new study conducted by University of California economist Thomas Becker projects adoption rates for electric vehicles over the next two decades.
Becker's study is premised on the use of switchable battery systems as proposed by Better Place. Becker projects that nearly two thirds of new car sales in 2030 could be EVs and a quarter of the fleet could be electrified by that time. The estimates are based on low-cost EVs enabled by selling them without batteries and then leasing the batteries at a cost comparable to the cost of fuel.
While this sounds great, swappable batteries pose a number of very difficult problems, including ensuring the robustness of connections when the batteries are repeatedly replaced. With battery technology still evolving and performance and longevity highly dependent on the integration with the vehicle, swapping is much more complicated than the simple act of removal and replacement.
Like so many economic forecasts, this one is based on a number of questionable assumptions. Did we mention that the study was partially funded by Better Place?
Gallery: Better Place battery swap station
[Source: Green Car Advisor]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ben 12:15PM (7/16/2009)
What's the point of having an EV if the cost of leasing the battery is comparable to the cost of fuel? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Sure it helps the environment, but it does nothing for my pocket.
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Serge 12:53PM (7/16/2009)
Your dollars will support the American economy, not the trade deficit (battery manufacturing, electric grid upgrade, production of electricity). You will also be contributing to a cleaner environment, due to lower emissions of pollutants and GHG (especially as more clean-renewable sources come online).
Chris M 7:10PM (7/18/2009)
I do believe that Project Better Place plans the battery leasing/charging/swapping pricing to be "competitive", that is, at a comparable or lower price than petrol pricing. Moreover, with the battery leased, the cost of the rest of the EV should be quite a bit less than the cost of a typical gasser, so even if the PBP fees end up the same as petrol costs, EVs would still offer a cost advantage to the consumer.
AquariumsW Olympia 12:21PM (7/16/2009)
I like this "idea" now, but didn't months ago. It could also be done manually, creating jobs for those who need them; assuming energy independance and a healthy planet our priorities. So, some factors are:
1. They would have to be lightweight like Li-ion.
2. They could also be charged at home (why not?)
3. NIGHT TIME of electrical use prices must be lower and meterable.
4. Refill stations must also charge "at night"....UNLESS they have an efficient Combined Heat and Power natural gas generating system. Water and space heat is the byproduct, useable in cities with taller buildings
5. The Ecars should be very small, one or two persons. We can still use ICE's for 4 and 5 and up passenger vehicles. Evans and Etrucks operating by day would probably just be charged at nite.
6. We don't need a huge $50billion "Smart-Grid" for any of this, just higher electric prices during peak hours, and a $1gal gas tax (with $500 rebate, and a Basic Health Care Plan).
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Lou Grinzo 12:36PM (7/16/2009)
I've never been thrilled about battery swapping systems for EVs. The primary thing keeping EVs off the roads is the cost of the batteries. Bring out a $20K Yaris-size EV with a 125 mile/charge range from a major car company, and I guarantee you that Americans would buy millions of them. Just the market for "second cars" in multi-car households is enormous.
A swapping scheme to provide extended range does nothing for the cost issue. You still have to pay for the battery, whether you buy it up front or lease it or pay per swap or whatever.
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darius 12:49PM (7/16/2009)
Lou Grinzo - exactly, whats the deference if I pay for the car + battery as one or pay less just for the car and then extra lease cost for the battery? In most cases people finance the car purchase so one higher car payment or one lower car payment + battery lease payment? Whats the point? Unless leasing the battery can drastically reduce the monthly payment. Still its like buying a car and leasing the engine... just don't see it getting over well with buyers. Not to mention all the swapping issues and getting all the manufacturers to standardize the battery and the mounting... they can;t even agree on the freaking plug for the thing...
AquariumsW Olympia 12:59PM (7/16/2009)
"""A swapping scheme to provide extended range does nothing for the cost issue. You still have to pay for the battery, whether you buy it up front or lease it or pay per swap or whatever."""
The point is, you get a SMALLER CHEAPER battery, and you don't need to recharge it for 8 hours. Compare the costs of a small 2 passenger EV, 45mph top speed, 20 mile range with a larger full purpose EV 4 passengers,80mph top speed, and 150 mile range. You are talking $12,000 compared to $60,000. And $2000 compared to $30,000 just for batteries.
So, if your "range" was only 20 miles and you need to go 40, you can stop and get a new battery for a few cents. That is why this system might work.
Evan 12:55PM (7/16/2009)
If car batteries are like in the video, every model of car would need a different model of battery. It would be hard to design common batteries for different vehicles:
sports cars - shape and weight distribution needs to be different in every model.
luxury sedans vs small cars - very different capacities and current draw.
Also, does the battery's cooling system go with the battery or the car? Assuming it's liquid cooled, would we have to flush the cooling liquid from the battery?
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Chris M 2:49AM (7/17/2009)
What was shown was a prototype, the final version is likely to be more "universal". A modular battery pack design could be used for several different vehicle designs, just use a different number of modules, and perhaps in a different orientation if needed.
locoyocal 1:00PM (7/16/2009)
More useless propaganda.
#1. Why are battery swaps even a concern?
#2. Can we say Blade Servers....
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Brett 1:09PM (7/16/2009)
The Project Better Place business model's success is contingent upon NO advancement in battery technology. It assumes that the costs and range will not improve. In my opinion this is why PBB is not a company that can last more than 10 years without significant changes or adaptations.
How naive is it to think that the billions of research funding, major OEM attention as well as good work by several start ups won't produce with time batteries that are smaller, more energy dense, cheaper and more powerful. With improved batteries, there is no need to swap out.
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Retro Racer 2:04PM (7/16/2009)
Swappable batteries? Think Dewalt cordless drill. Every EV should come with two battery packs. One in the car, one charging at home. There could be room in the car to carry the second for a longer trip. With batteries getting smaller this would be possible.
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locoyocal 2:19PM (7/16/2009)
the extra battery pack(s) could also double as storage for solar, and/or purchasing electricity at off-peak hours.
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Sean 2:49PM (7/16/2009)
Battery swapping sounds great at first, but it has a few issues:
1) It does not work if you own your battery (because it could get swapped out for a old, dying one) so it doesn't work for people who want to own the battery and primarily charge at home.
2) Infostructure costs a lot, so It doesn't make sense without a critical mass of compatible cars.
3) Once battery technology reaches a certain point, there is no need for swapping stations.
4) Standardising battery size and shape.
It will take a lot of time and money before we could get a working system and not enough time to get a return on that investment before battery tech makes the system antiquated.
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BillySharps 4:58PM (7/16/2009)
Not to mention the fact that a battery swap station must be able to charge batteries significantly faster than overnight charging would need to. Otherwise they've got to stock a large number of packs for those times when they have a rush of customers, which is really expensive, and they'd always be in danger of running out of packs.
If the technology exists to quick charge those packs, battery swaps are irrelevant, which is the real reason battery swap schemes are stupid. There's no way I would consider leasing a battery pack from a company and depending on them to establish the needed infrastructure to drive more than the range of a single pack. The car would probably cost the same as the Volt, but the volt is far more useful.
I don't see these schemes succeeding in any meaningful, significant way.
CaramelZappa 3:19PM (7/16/2009)
Battery swapping is the wrong way to deal with the problems of charging time, and requires too much infrastructure to be practical. If Subaru's EV can quick charge in 15 minutes, it makes more sense to focus on better charging technologies than try to build an infrastructure for battery swapping. One of the nice things about the switch to EV's as compared to Hydrogen cars is that the charging infrastructure is already there, in your home. Making batteries cheaper and chargers quicker is going to make EV's compete with gasoline cars, battery swapping is just over-complicating a beautifully simple mode of transportation.
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Snowdog 4:21PM (7/16/2009)
Basically makes no sense at all because it takes the most expensive, fastest depreciating part of the car and attempts to make money off it with an expensive infrastructure.
For this business model to work, they have to charge the user the price of the battery, amortized cost of the infrastructure + markup.
So already expensive batteries will end up costing the user even more.
Brain dead idea.
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fnc 6:33PM (7/16/2009)
I agree in that the model doesn't make sense to me, but historically enough people have been perfectly happy paying a LOT more for something over a spread out period of time in small payments than by paying up front to support such a system. There would be no consumer credit industry today if that weren't true.
I hold anything trying to predict where an industry will be in twenty years when that industry is based on rapidly advancing technology as highly suspect. There will be technological advances in not only batteries, but also ~entirely different areas of research~ that will nullify any assumptions made about what batteries and cars will cost twenty years from now. Five years? Your numbers may still be reliable. Twenty years? Not a chance.
OthelloPrime 11:16AM (7/17/2009)
We (meaning OEMs and/or private companies) will have worked out all of the hydrogen kinks by the time PBB could get all of the necessary infrastructure in place. Not to mention, getting the auto manufacturers to agree on a standard battery size/ connection/ cooling system.
If Hydrogen isn't the way, then advances in battery technology will make PBB very obsolete, very soon.
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wunderkind 3:10PM (7/19/2009)
When will there be a battery system that will let me drive from Roanoke, VA to New York City and have juice left to drive around when I get there? Maybe you guys are privy to technical secrets I don't know about, but my laptop has trouble operating for 6 hours on its batteries... and you think a car will be able to go all day on the interstate "very soon"?! Not likely. Carying an extra battery? How would you change it? All new systems for powering personal transportation face the infrastructure problems/costs mentioned. There is a difference between buying a battery with one's new car and paying for the privilege of swapping ... if the cost of swapping is equal to the cost of fuel! That takes the cost of the battery out of the equation. Sort of like that "free" cell phone we get when we sign up for a two year service contract. Having the option of recharging at home overnight should be part of the package, but that's not free. We need to get electrics on the road QUICKLY. So what if some of the initial systems become obsolete in a few decades?
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