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May 13, 2009 04:31 PM | 6
Many have wondered what Better Place's vaunted automated battery changing stations might look like. So the company, a would-be pioneer in electric cars and their attendant infrastructure, has released a slick video showing how it’s done at a demonstration site in Yokohama, Japan.
Swapping out the discharged battery from an electric Nissan SUV for a fully charged one took slightly more than a minute, according to the video, or less time than it might take you to gas up your car. And you wouldn't even have to get out (talk about full service).
The trick, of course, would be doing this hundreds or thousands of times a day without the automation breaking down. And, of course, they’d first have to make all those batteries and electric vehicles, plus build out the massive infrastructure of swapping stations all over the world.
But the company plans to begin rolling out real stations as soon as 2011 in Israel and soon thereafter in Australia, California, Denmark, Hawaii, Ontario and other places. For now, however, founder Shai Agassi will have to content himself with this six-month trial run in Japan.
Tags:
alternative energy,
better place,
plug-in hybrid,
electric cars
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6 Comments
Add CommentI just thought about this the other day. Looks like someone beat me to the punch. I'm glad though, electric cars are the way of the future!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't see any reason for all the infrastructure. Seems like these gizmos could be hauled around on the back of a semi allowing emergency switch outs on the side of a highway or be stationed at rest stops or anywhere with convenient access. Turn all the refueling stations into mini parks or outdoor cafes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFar more practical than hauling this thing around would be for a "rescue" vehicle to come and charge up the stranded EV, at least enough to get to the nearest swap station.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe EV could also carry a 60lb 2KW generator with a couple of gallons of petrol which should give it an extra 50-100km of range when needed.
BETTER PLACE must be the brain child of LoCo, the son of Nissan's founder. It presumes electric cars will have a standardized batter pack. Unless Nisson sees the future significantly different from the past when efficiency, convenience and cost meant something. Perhaps they visualize Ford, Nisson and Fiat battery stations in place of Exxon, Shell and Chevron stations. On the other hand Honda's Civic charges its self, the charge is free, and since it charges while you drive, it takes none of your time. If your battery breaks down while traveling you simply keep driving on the efficient built in gasoline engine (40 mpg) to a dealership.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think the Better Place design is right on target. I do indeed expect further standardization of various parts including battery packs for cars. The waste and complexity of service trucks (carrying battery packs) coming to the rescue is ridiculous. In future car battery packs should be some kind of emergency charge to be used to get to a Better Place station. If folks don't use their battery'd cars right they deserve the hassles they run into.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI do, very much, expect gas stations to become multi-fuel stations. Along with gasoline and diesel, I expect stations to offer battery packs, charges and liquefied gas.
There is not enough lead or lithium to swap all the world's car's motors for batteries. Secondly, batteries only displace greenhouse gas emissions from exhaust pipes to power plants. Current studies show that pumping gas underground triggers earth tremors, opening fractures in rocks and creating potential leakage routes for CO2. Only when carbon capture and storage will have been adequately tested can we rely on electric cars.
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