Sketched on a napkin, battery swapping seems like it will work. The
logistics and the technical details are difficult to overcome. It is
never going to happen. Never.
>>>> Battery management electronics <<<
The BMS is often divided between portions that reside on each cell,
portions that reside on each module, and a portion that remains attached
to the car. The connections between these BMS modules must be addressed,
as well as the history they contain.
During charge, you must connect to the BMS and hold whatever new
historical data the pack transfers, and update the car with that data
when you return the pack. You have to do this for multiple brands and
models.
>>>> Pack ownership and pack maintenance <<<<
Who owns the pack? Who is responsible for maintaining the pack
while it is being charged, and after it is returned to the vehicle?
When something goes amiss during the removal, changing, or
installation, who is responsible and how exactly is it dealt with? Will
a loaner pack or car be provided?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As you can see, this gets very complicated both legally and
technically. It is _FAR_ simpler to connect a fat cable to the car for a
few minutes to transfer a batch of electrons than it is to remove and
replace a bunch of fasteners, disconnect and reconnect several
connectors, then negotiate with the car computer and the pack computer
about the health of all the cells.
Simply negotiating with the electronics in all brands of cars and
trucks to simply enable a fast charge is complicated enough. I put my
head in my hands thinking about how impossible it would be to negotiate
the swapping of battery packs over all car models. The mind boggles....
Bill D.
On 3/22/2025 12:57 PM, EV List Lackey via EV wrote:
On 21 Mar 2025 at 17:07, Lee Hart via EV wrote:
Given human nature, I suspect that battery swapping only works for a rented or
leased EV.
I think it could work for an owned EV with a leased battery.
The Better Place model was similar to battery leasing. You owned the car
and Better Place owned the battery. Effectively, you paid them by the km
you drove.
IMO, something like Better Place could still work if EV batteries were
sufficiently standardized, and if the scheme were sufficiently capitalized
this time round.
That said, I could be wrong, but I don't think it will happen. Aside from
the standardization problem, DCFC has nearly caught up with battery swapping
in speed. It's also tough for me to imagine an automated battery swapping
depot that would cost less than DCFC per vehicle served.
David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey
To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my
offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt
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