Why do they make electric cars that you have to plug in, instead of cars with removable, briefcase-sized batteries that you could switch out at the gas station for charged ones? The station charges the old batteries, you drive right away. It would work basically exactly the same as propane tanks.
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They do have those, actually. I think someone has scaled such a system up that covers (or will cover?) Israel.
Problem one is that you need a standard battery type and size, and that hasn’t solidified yet. Problem two is that the batteries you need to make a car go appreciably far adds up to a LOT of weight.
Hm. I bet you could make a robot to do it.
Would it have to be the whole battery? Or just the core cell? I mean, the whole entire unit in your car isn’t the actual battery, is it? I don’t really know because I’ve never seen one. But I definitely like the idea that you wouldn’t have to plug your car in.
How long does it take, anyway? To charge it at a fuel station? Do you have to sit around and have coffee and read a book for an hour or so? My computer battery takes two hours or so to charge completely — how long would a car take? Could be a could business, though — coffee shop/bookstore/electric car charging station…..
The chevy volt battery weights 400 lbs.
Also, it replaces the drive shaft making it difficult to access. In most designs they are placed low in the car for balance/center of gravity reasons. I suppose they could be released from underneath into a bay of some kind…
But is there a reason you couldn’t divide them into smaller, lighter cells? You probably don’t want to replace the whole battery at once, anyway.
So like a top-up battery pack to give you a boost until your engine can recharge the rest of it. Like a hybrid, only instead of a gas engine you’d use a smaller removable battery for kickstarting.
Well, I was thinking of a set of modular batteries instead of one big one–like, six smaller batteries that would drain sequentially and could be replaced individually, depending on how much you needed.
But that’s also a pretty good idea.
Heheh. A battery of batteries, AS IT WERE.