No its not, but I would hope that batteries histories would be logged like we are seeing many ordinary cars engines and history logged now, so a dealer can decide on the cost of the battery swap. You could be offered an a rated one, but to get you out of trouble, you might settle for a worse oone if you just wanted to get home. Brian
You might even accept cash-back with your rubbish replacement battery, but would then have to pay out to replace it with a new or near-new to go with your new car. In which case you've been stiffed because the lying bastard at the swap place where all there was available, supposedly, was this rubbish one, *was* actually lying because he had this rubbish battery he was keen to unload. He just didn't mention all the good ones he had in the back. A bit like the cheese-shop sketch.
So you started with a good battery, and now you again have a good battery, but you're out of pocket by some substantial amount of cash.
I think this is what they call "working through the implications of the suggestion" that the way to go is battery swaps.
Hence, as I've said before, using multiple small packs - one for a city car, two or more for larger vehicles. Larger vehicles could even run on one, unless they need to do longer journeys ... thus saving on weight most of the time.
So all petrol and diesel cars use the same battery, then? In the same position? You live and learn.
Now you are deliberately missing the point. Cars have many things standardised and manufacturers manage to innovate without falling outside the requirements.
Multiple, relatively small batteries could be positioned differently, and moved into place differently for every make and model if manufacturers wanted, as long as the battery pack shape, voltage and interface remained the same and exchange was done by robot arms that manufacturers could provide battery removal and replacement moves for.
But never managed to agree on the same sized battery, or even the same bolt holes etc with wheel rims, let alone the tyres. Or even the oil used in the engine.
No I'm not.
Can you name one thing which is identical on all cars, and interchangeable?
Right. You want a robot that can cope with a variable number of batteries and positions on a large variety of cars? And future proofed?
That would require world wide cooperation between all car makers, etc. Good luck with that.
There hasn't been a need for such components to be interchangeable, only for fuel grades, filler sizes, fitting of OBD II (and communicating with it - at least for the basic codes) and many other things that are mandated.
They've also, without compulsion, managed to "standardise" for many decades on the 3 (or 2) pedals and their order, rough gear lever positioning, controls being on stalks, which side the steering wheel should be on for the target country and a whole lot more.
A robot arm capable of picking up a standard battery at a time and moving it through a pre-programmed set of positions and angles (defined by the car maker). Nothing to stop batteries being inserted from either side, the back, underneath, whatever is desired by each manufacturer. There are hundreds of off-the-shelf robot arms that would be perfectly capable of that now.
There are already world-wide standards for vehicle manufacturers to work to. There is no reason that such a standard could not be implemented for physical battery packaging and interface (which says nothing about what technology they use or where they are placed.
What would stop the non-robotic arms of thieving scumbags removing batteries to sell (if only as scrap)?
Frankly, smarter people than anyone in this group have considered this and discarded it.
The logistics, cost and design limitations imposed on new cars have all made this a non-starter.
It might possibly work for a shopping scooter but I?m willing to bet that no other manufacturer follows this route and that stations with ready charged batteries won?t happen.
It?s an appealing concept, but it?s not going to happen (for cars at least).
Tim
As we already use locking petrol caps, why not locking battery access hatches?
I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen, with the US or the EU mandating it.
I?d be *very* surprised if it happens. Care to have a wager? £100 say it won?t.
Tim
Makes the robotic battery swapper even more complicated and expensive.
Many, off the shelf, robotic arms available now, would be perfectly capable of picking a battery up moving it in a predefined path to avoid obstructions and placing it into a hole. It could be done in seconds and followed by a second or more batteries.
Those do it with no change in the predefined path and obstructions.
It's nothing like that with a very wide variety of different vehicles showing up, let alone needing to make a decision about just how many of the batteries need to be replaced etc as you propose.
It could be done in seconds and
Not with such a variety of vehicles with widely varying locations for the battery. It is never going to be feasible to standarise the location of the battery across everything from a micro SMART to a massive great HumVee or truck.
Not even feasible to say have a led on the end of the battery that the robot could home in on or something like that.
Fuck all actually, really just the fuel used and now the battery voltage. And even with batteries, truck don?t have just a single 12V battery.
and manufacturers manage to innovate without falling
But still a big problem for a robotic battery changer.
how does that work when the battery is flat ?
My guess is that when autonomous cars are (finally) here a lot of battery problems disappear because your car will just f*ck off and charge up when you are asleep at the nearest charging centre.
Note the sudden removal for everyone to have a charging point.
Of course while "your" car is out and about getting charged it could also do some pick-up/drop offs that your account could be credited with. After all why waste a journey.
Of course 50% of the people who said it was "impossible" to WFH were somehow managing through 2020. Which very much lowers my "it could never happen" bar :)
Tend to agree there. Also a blip in the line of history where 99% people haven't had access to personal transport for 99% of the time.
See also:smoking.
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