Extending Electric Vehicles range instantly with battery switch

It’s no big secret that electric vehicles (EVs) have been haunted by the “range problem” for over a century. Answers have eluded the central question of how an EV can be made convenient. Quicker than quick charge: extending EV range instantly with battery switch, by Michal Vakrat Wolkin, PhD, Global Head of Battery Technologies, Automotive Alliances / March 3rd, 2010

It’s no big secret that electric vehicles (EVs) have been haunted by the “range problem” for over a century. Answers have eluded the central question of how an EV can be made as convenient as its gasoline-powered counterpart given that batteries take a long time to recharge when they run out of juice.

Now, with nearly every major automaker committing to produce electric cars in the next several years, we see the industry proposing various solutions to overcome the range problem: designing the car around a large battery giving 200+ miles of range and costing $25,000 or more, claims of 5 minute “fast charge,” relying on “quick charge” stations taking at least 30 minutes to charge (at 2C charge rates), or battery switch to extend electric vehicles range instantly (under 5 minutes).

With the premise of trying to get into mass-market, widespread adoption, high price points of colossal batteries (even with government incentives) will be a nonstarter to consumers. 5 minute fast charge is not even feasible: aside from reducing the battery life quickly with high heat evolution, it will have an adverse impact on the grid if it were mass deployed (e.g., charging a 25 kWh battery in 5 minutes would require over 300 kW power; to put this in perspective, two electric cars fast charging at the same time would be equal to the power feed of an average office building).

Ruling out large batteries and fast charge, this post will look at quick charge vs. battery swap from several perspectives: cost, flexibility, and technology.


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