EVs - have they got it all wrong?
Discussion
After pondering the latest news about new build houses having to have EV chargers from 2022, and listening to Jeremy Vine’s callers discussing it at lunchtime today, it occurred to me that the whole EV thing has been royally screwed up.
Is it just me or does anyone else think that the inability to quickly swap out the batteries of an EV is a glaring oversight in their design and that fixing this would solve a lot of the issues that put people off buying them or negatively affect people who already have them?
If the batteries of an EV could be swapped out in a few minutes at a service station the following issues would be eradicated or, at the very least, eased…
1: Charging time.
No longer an issue. You can now “fill up” as quickly as you can a petrol or diesel car.
2: Charging point congestion.
Only two chargers. A car sat in each for the next hour. So now you’re waiting for one of those to move before you can start to charge your car. What would be five minutes filling a petrol or diesel is now two hours. Not any more!
3: Range anxiety.
Significantly reduced as the ability to “fill up” quickly means having a car that can’t cover a long distance on a single charge no longer causes massive disruption to a journey.
4: Living in apartments or terraced houses.
No longer an issue. You just “fill up” at the nearest service station. You’d never need to charge your car at home so it doesn’t matter that it’s difficult, or even impossible, to get a cable from your home to your car. Also, no longer restricted to holiday accommodation that has EV charging.
5: Battery degradation impacting residual value.
No longer an issue. The batteries wouldn’t be a fixed component of the car, therefore, you’d never have a battery replacement costing thousands of pounds hanging over you, or wiping out a big chunk of the car’s resale value because the next owner would soon have to replace it and factor that into their offer.
How would it work?
Simple! There would be one shape and size of battery. These would be used in multiple in a vehicle, the number of batteries determined by its energy requirements. For example, a small hatchback might have two batteries, a family sized hatchback might have three, an executive saloon might have four, a large GT, SUV, etc. might have five.
The batteries would be contained in a cartridge which could be popped out at a service station, the batteries removed and placed in a charging dock and fully charged batteries inserted into the cartridge and this replaced in the vehicle. You’d pay for the difference in charge in the batteries you were depositing and those you were installing, as well as a “standing charge” for upkeep of the battery network.
Any batteries which had degraded below an agreed capacity could be removed from the network and replaced with new ones so customers could always rely on a certain range being available after filling up.
As battery tech evolved, manufacturing became greener, battery capacity and longevity improved, newer and better batteries could be deployed into the network and older, less efficient ones removed.
To accelerate this evolution all fuel/energy companies would be allowed to manufacture batteries in an open and competitive market, but must adhere to common specification to ensure compatibility when being mixed with other brands, same as you can mix different brands of petrol or diesel.
Am I the only person to whom all of this is startlingly obvious or am I stark staring bonkers and missing something obvious?
Is it just me or does anyone else think that the inability to quickly swap out the batteries of an EV is a glaring oversight in their design and that fixing this would solve a lot of the issues that put people off buying them or negatively affect people who already have them?
If the batteries of an EV could be swapped out in a few minutes at a service station the following issues would be eradicated or, at the very least, eased…
1: Charging time.
No longer an issue. You can now “fill up” as quickly as you can a petrol or diesel car.
2: Charging point congestion.
Only two chargers. A car sat in each for the next hour. So now you’re waiting for one of those to move before you can start to charge your car. What would be five minutes filling a petrol or diesel is now two hours. Not any more!
3: Range anxiety.
Significantly reduced as the ability to “fill up” quickly means having a car that can’t cover a long distance on a single charge no longer causes massive disruption to a journey.
4: Living in apartments or terraced houses.
No longer an issue. You just “fill up” at the nearest service station. You’d never need to charge your car at home so it doesn’t matter that it’s difficult, or even impossible, to get a cable from your home to your car. Also, no longer restricted to holiday accommodation that has EV charging.
5: Battery degradation impacting residual value.
No longer an issue. The batteries wouldn’t be a fixed component of the car, therefore, you’d never have a battery replacement costing thousands of pounds hanging over you, or wiping out a big chunk of the car’s resale value because the next owner would soon have to replace it and factor that into their offer.
How would it work?
Simple! There would be one shape and size of battery. These would be used in multiple in a vehicle, the number of batteries determined by its energy requirements. For example, a small hatchback might have two batteries, a family sized hatchback might have three, an executive saloon might have four, a large GT, SUV, etc. might have five.
The batteries would be contained in a cartridge which could be popped out at a service station, the batteries removed and placed in a charging dock and fully charged batteries inserted into the cartridge and this replaced in the vehicle. You’d pay for the difference in charge in the batteries you were depositing and those you were installing, as well as a “standing charge” for upkeep of the battery network.
Any batteries which had degraded below an agreed capacity could be removed from the network and replaced with new ones so customers could always rely on a certain range being available after filling up.
As battery tech evolved, manufacturing became greener, battery capacity and longevity improved, newer and better batteries could be deployed into the network and older, less efficient ones removed.
To accelerate this evolution all fuel/energy companies would be allowed to manufacture batteries in an open and competitive market, but must adhere to common specification to ensure compatibility when being mixed with other brands, same as you can mix different brands of petrol or diesel.
Am I the only person to whom all of this is startlingly obvious or am I stark staring bonkers and missing something obvious?
markj113 said:
A current rapid charger can add a few hundred miles in about 20 minutes.
If we're really going to go down the fixed battery route then it needs to be mandated that all rapid charges are compatible with all electric cars. As I understand it, someone who owns an Audi e-Tron has fewer options than someone who owns a Tesla, and solving this still doesn't remove the issue of battery degradation hitting a car's residual value.markj113 said:
how long would it take to swap over a "quick release" battery weighing 1/2 tonne?
There would have to be some kind of terminal that you drive into and the machine would sort it out, same as a car wash can wash cars of varying shapes and sizes. A battery changing terminal would have to be able handle a few sizes of car but at least there could be a common cartridge design that only came in a few sizes.Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff