Successful battery swap technology

[Laconian]

...except for scooters!

Gogoro, in Taiwan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W34k0nrrDQA

[NomisR]

If Taiwan can swap to those things, that would be great.  Unfortunately.. Taiwan is always running into issues with power outages due to the current administration's anti-nuclear stance.  It would definitely alleviate pollution from all the scooters being out there.

[Soup DeVille]

...except for scooters!

Gogoro, in Taiwan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W34k0nrrDQA

Somewhat less space efficient, but a great way to increase usability in city centers.
I see no reason why multiple cell Kei-class sized vehicles couldn't use the same system.

[Laconian]

Somewhat less space efficient, but a great way to increase usability in city centers.
I see no reason why multiple cell Kei-class sized vehicles couldn't use the same system.

Absolutely. The Citroen Ami "gets by" (for some definition of getting by) on 5kWh worth of cells. You could have 5kWh contained in a couple of those batteries.

[Soup DeVille]

Absolutely. The Citroen Ami "gets by" (for some definition of getting by) on 5kWh worth of cells. You could have 5kWh contained in a couple of those batteries.

They're apparently 1.3kWh and weigh 9 kg. So, 4 cells would hold 5.2kWh and weigh 36 kg. That doesn't seem that bad at all.

[Laconian]

9kg for 1.3kWh? They must be low grade cells, you can get better density than that.

[Soup DeVille]

9kg for 1.3kWh? They must be low grade cells, you can get better density than that.

For sure; but in this application, they almost have to be a commodity grade cell in a rugged case- the case would probably be a significant part of that weight. Plus they are probably programmed for longevity, and that means not  pushing the min/max percentages.

[GoCougs]

Given the recent stratospheric rise in petty property crime and vandalism virtually everywhere in the US, this would never ever work.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Given the recent stratospheric rise in petty property crime and vandalism virtually everywhere in the US, this would never ever work.

Maybe they can have ink filled security tags like they put on $30 shirts.

[FoMoJo]

China seems to be gung ho on battery swap stations...China: NIO Celebrates 900th Battery Swap Station

NIO announced that its network of EV battery swap stations in China has expanded to 900 stations. The deployment continues "to provide a charging experience beyond refueling."

The plan is to install over 4,000 stations by the end of 2025, including 1,000 or so outside of China. By the end of 2022, the number of NIO battery swap stations is set to exceed 1,300. The first station in Europe has been officially launched in Norway in January to support the local introduction of the NIO ES8 and the following models.

The currently installed 900 stations were used more than 8 million times (cumulatively), which is a massive number, compared to 700 stations and 5.3 million swaps reported in December 2021. On average, one station was used close to 9,000 times.

There are two standardized battery packs in NIO offer - 75 kWh (which replaced the outgoing 70 kWh) and 100 kWh, while the 150 kWh unit is in the pipeline.

All of the NIO models can use the battery swap stations as an alternative to fast charging on long-distance travel or to upgrade their existing battery to a newer or higher capacity unit. The batteries are offered as a separate rental item (with a monthly fee) to lower the initial purchase price, or as part of the car.

The second-generation Power Swap Station 2.0, introduced in April 2021, has 14 battery slots - 13 battery packs (vs 5 in the 1.0 version) and an empty slot to pick up a discharged battery (or old/previous generation battery when upgrading). According to NIO, they are capable of completing up to 312 battery swaps per day (24 hours), which would mean 4.6 minutes or close to 277 seconds per swap (including parking).
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