Technology Review: Blogs: Potential Energy: Electric Vehicle Battery-Switching System Unveiled

Potential Energy

Kevin Bullis is Technology Review’s energy editor.

Blog Topics

Electric Vehicle Battery-Switching System Unveiled

Startup Better Place demonstrates a system for swapping out depleted batteries for charged ones.

By Kevin Bullis

Better Place, a company based in Palo Alto, CA, that's made deals with numerous governments around the world to install charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, has demonstrated its battery-switch station for the first time. The event took place at 1:30 A.M. ET this morning, in Yokohama, Japan, as part of a government-sponsored exhibit. Japan is studying ways to meet a target of having electric vehicles account for half of all new vehicle sales by 2020.

One thing holding back electric vehicles is their limited range, due to the large size of battery packs and the cost of batteries. A battery-switch station allows drivers to quickly swap out a depleted battery for a charged one. If these were placed at intervals along a highway, they would allow for long-distance trips without stops to recharge the battery, which could take hours. The automatic switching system can swap out a battery in less time than it takes to fill up a gas tank, Better Place says. Other automakers, such as GM and Fisker Automotive, are opting for a different strategy to extend the range of electric vehicles. They include an onboard gas- or ethanol-powered generator to recharge the battery during driving.

Here's a video of the switching station in operation.

Better Place says that the switching station is designed to work with a number of different battery-pack configurations. But many experts warn that, if these stations have to supply too many different types of batteries, they will become too large and costly to be practical. As it is, automakers that are developing electric vehicles are designing custom battery packs for each vehicle, rather than one pack that can work with their own vehicles as well as with those of other manufacturers. Chrysler, for example, recently unveiled five different battery packs.

The switching-station demonstration involved a Nissan Dualis SUV fitted with a battery pack that uses battery cells from A123 Systems, based in Watertown, MA. Better Place has been collaborating with both Nissan and A123, but the company says that production electric vehicles from Nissan won't necessarily look like this.

Tags: energy, battery, electric vehicle, better place, extended range, switching station

Comments

Close Comments

>>> the project Better Place has NO future >>>

.

despite the $160 million raised by Better Place for """its""" project (derived from MY idea of a "cellphoneCAR") the battery-swap concepts have NO future, since new research seems allow a simple and low cost way to recharge slightly modified batteries Li-Ion batteries 100 TIMES FASTER than today's models

image of the battery swap here: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/video-better-places-automated-electric-vehicle-battery-switch/

.

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

Gaetano Mara...
05/14/2009
Posts:120

Avg Rating:

Re: >>> the project Better Place has NO future >>>

Disagree. I think that the concept of refuelling as a service has both a history and a future.

Technology is always changing, but people will still need and want a place to stop after driving x-many kilometers.In time the technological factors will be outstripped by the human factors and if Better Place can be in there as the refuelling technology standard, possibly licensing this 3rd parties, then they are sitting on a good business. They are trying to get out ahead of the game with stations, with a technology(they can adjust that part later)and with their brand.

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

horsecrow
05/15/2009
Posts:1

Avg Rating:

Re: >>> the project Better Place has NO future >>>

I don't see a future in it ever due to battery ownership. When you first buy your car with a brand new battery, you get great performance. The first time you swap out at one of these stations you instantly cut down your vehicles range per charge. Unless the station owns the batteries and vehicles are sold without one this will never take off. Add to this that auto companies will never agree on a standard battery platform as it destroys their ability to differentiate; they may use the same cell supplier, but the "battery" made up of hundreds of cells will be the way to change the performance of the car

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

nickov
05/15/2009
Posts:1

Re: >>> the project Better Place has NO future >>>

Good point. I think they could overcome this through memberships. At the time a driver would join, the battery could be assessed, and the entry fee could be adjusted based on the battery age and condition. Then it would be a matter of making sure you had a membership in the service station chains that you liked.

It would be possible too to have arrangements between different companies such that they track their inventories and charge each other offsetting fees at intervals. This would be similar to the way roaming agreements are made between cell phone companies and ATM machine usage clearing is done today. From the drivers point of view, they would have memberships but would also be able to use other companies in a network for an extra fee of some kind.

In the end, I agree with those who imagine that the next generation of batteries will have quick recharge times. We are already beginning to see it.

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

MakeSense
05/17/2009
Posts:93

Avg Rating:

Re: >>> the project Better Place has NO future >>>

You don't need a membership. The swapping station will cover the costs just like the propane exchange stations cover theirs. Each transaction has a rider fee on it to cover the costs and wear of the equipment. Instead of $.60 it will cost $5. Yes it will be cheaper to charge at home. Its a convenience thing just like the propane exchange.

The swapping companies will monitor the quality/condition of the battery packs and repair/replace as needed. After all you don't need to replace all the cells just the defective ones. This is what the propane exchange companies do. They test, repaint, repair and replace as needed.

As for battery compatibility, that is up to the companies or the Feds. We currently have compatible small batteries (AAA,AA,C,D, etc.) we should be able to come up with a large battery solution.

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

tlynnch
05/23/2009
Posts:5

Avg Rating:

Why it might work

I agree with previous posts that swapping your own battery for a used one does not sound reassuring. Therefore a rental system similar to propane gas bottles might work (where there are different sizes available, too). People might also have the option of keeping their own battery at a base close to home and rent one for longer trips. This reminds me of some old pubs in Germany where you can still keep your private favorite beer jug locked away in a small cupboard. If drinking away from your local pub you usually opt for a borrowed glass instead of bringing your own. Better Place will be like the pub owner who doesn't care whether you just take the beer and put it in your own jug or whether you rent one and give it back later, paying a small extra for cleaning and wear. Even fast recharging batteries will need a filling station providing the high power necessary. So if the battery swapping does not take off, by providing the infrastructure for recharching, Better Place will still have a big first mover advantage over the competition.

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

SimonHoer
05/18/2009
Posts:4

Avg Rating:

Too Impractical

This is just too impractical. The consumer won't go for this. You don't know what the quality of the replacement battery will be.

It's unfortunate that Auto companies continue to pour money in these ventures when so many quantum leaps in energy storage are taking place under their noses.

Super-Capacitors are real, they're right around the corner, and they will make chemical batteries obsolete. So why aren't auto manufacturers investing in them? Probably becuase they're in bed with too many people to do the right thing. And everyone wonders why they're going bankrupt.

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

IHiJump
05/18/2009
Posts:2

Avg Rating:

Right around the corner?

Fusion power, with unlimited energy too cheap to meter is right around the corner, and was 20 years ago, and will be 20 years from now!

So we want a technology that is HERE NOW!
won't stop them from keeping working on it tho.
Call us when it's ready

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

erbium
05/27/2009
Posts:108

Avg Rating:

Electirc Battery switching

I agree with most of the posts that it is impractical and does not address the human factor. The direction of our technology suggests clearly that we need to develop battaries that will satistfy the 200 mile range, charge overnight in your garage and can sustain a quick chargeto 90% in less that 10 minutes. Vhicles like the Tesla Motercars sports car that show this is possible and practical if mass produced. Our efforts need to get there at the big auto industry seem to be overshadowed by the distraction of going in too manty different directions that offer only a short range and little compitition for the Oil industry.

Rate this comment:

(Reply)

crrick50
11/26/2009
Posts:1