Swappable batteries in EVs aren't feasible, but a big breakthrough could change the game

[toooooot]

I would like a car battery that is guaranteed to last 15 years. They just need to bring battery prices down and get rid of harmful elements in them.

 

[toooooot]

Doesn't the Chinese brand Nio have a network of battery swap stations for its cars?

Not sure if it was Nio but definitely saw something like that in China

 

[toooooot]

Hydrogen is not the future... Yet.
Currently the maths aren't math'n.
Listened to this podcast where one of the top professors in the UK breaks down the financial costs and the science behind hydrogen production and how it works currently and how it might happen but overall it basically isn't cost effective.
Don't believe the green smearing the big oil energy producers are doing saying hydrogen is the future for energy production.

There is a lot of energy that is produced during the night, why not convert it to hydrogen? And with cheap solar panels there would be much more of the energy to convert it to hydrogen.
Surely, all of the above would take billions and billions. But what is the alternative? We need to get rid of oil before we run out of it.

 

[speiit6]

They do, but as well it is proprietary technology only for them. And their cars are looking good, but safety is just awful.

Yes , Chinese Nio does have over 1,300 swap stations all over China. very successful , been swapping over 12 million batteries so far .

 

[wiyosaya]

There is a lot of energy that is produced during the night, why not convert it to hydrogen? And with cheap solar panels there would be much more of the energy to convert it to hydrogen.
Surely, all of the above would take billions and billions. But what is the alternative? We need to get rid of oil before we run out of it.

The problem with converting to hydrogen is efficiency. There have been recent developments that vastly improve efficiency of the electrolysis of water using catalysts (to produce hydrogen), but it has yet to be commercialized. If that ever comes to market, maybe then hydrogen will be viable as an energy storage medium.

Right now, however, most commercial hydrogen production is done using fossil fuels - specifically, natural gas. However, as I said in my prior post to this thread, that means is actually more polluting than using gasoline - thus negating any perceived benefits.

And another thing that seems to be left out of the hydrogen equation is that its distribution (barring, of course, extremely efficient catalyst-based home conversion units) to vehicles. As I see it, that distribution would be very similar to the current gasoline distribution network, which, though many people never think of it, is itself very energy inefficient. It takes fuel to truck all that gasoline, as it would hydrogen, to market. Given that hydrogen is not the most stable of gasses, it might also be more dangerous to transport than gasoline.

I'm all for green energy, but the options need to be carefully considered lest humanity end up with an even worse solution and problem than we already have. Humanity tends to do stuff thinking its great, and then down the road, realizes "Hey, that wasn't a good idea. Perhaps we should have done something else."

 

[wiyosaya]

I would like a car battery that is guaranteed to last 15 years. They just need to bring battery prices down and get rid of harmful elements in them.

There are pilot production projects in progress that are aimed at doing exactly that. Follow the links in my prior post.

 

[BigRedPDX]

I need to be able to make it up the ski mountain here, so I don't see EV cars as a viable option. Plus I go driving through the mountains all of the time. This is my only gripe with the whole EV conversion process.