EVs won over US early adopters, but mainstream buyers aren't along for the ride yet
EVs won over US early adopters, but mainstream buyers aren't along for the ride yet
Are EVs dying out? Not so fast. Experts say the future is still electric as car makers pour billions into new models: “After a record year in 2023, EV sales are expected to set another record in 2024.” @NPR @camilareads https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1227707306/ev-electric-vehicles-sales-2024
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I'd love an EV. Unfortunately I can't afford vehicles that aren't at least 20 years old. So it's going to be a while until I can get one.
Not just that, lots of Americans dont own a home with a garage.
What we need are swappable batteries. But those take up a lot of space, they can't be in giant underground tanks like gas.
Not really. We need mandated accessible charging infrastructure. All rental spaces should be required to provide access to at least one level 1 charging station per rental. Level 1 (regular wall outlet) is enough for just about everyone. You charge overnight and you never need to worry about stopping at some gas station or battery swap station or anything like that. If, for whatever reason, you need more than level 1 then hopefully there will be other options for you, but access to level 1 will solve most of the issues with EVs and rental property.
I've seen a few swappable battery concepts but realistically I think a much better direction is just faster charging batteries. Swapping the batteries around seems to be just by side stepping the problem rather than actually solving it
You can only charge a regular chemical battery so fast. There are other ways to store power that you can "charge" faster but that's basically just fuel cell tech and you can "recharge" faster by just refueling. Those also have their own issues.
Not to mention there is only so fast you can charge something via electricity and still have a regular person be able to safely do it. Megawatt charging stations are being developed but nobody in their right mind is going to let joe schmoe the office window licker handle a megawatt charging cable. And you can only make the electric drive train so efficient (still many times more efficient than an ICE). So for EVs with any decent range there will be a cap on how quickly they can be charged with an electric cable simply because there are practical limits on how much power a safe charger can output and how small a vehicle battery can be.
That's not to say EVs are a bad idea. We will just need to adapt to the new refueling characteristics. I imagine in the comming years we will start to see trickle chargers poping up basically anywhere people park their cars weather that be curbside or in parking lots/ramps. There will be more opportunities to keep the batteries topped up rather than recharging the whole thing in one sitting like we are currently used to with refueling ICE vehicles.
Swapable batteries will never happen in cars. (might for semi trucks or tractors). The individual cells in a battery are small and car designers want to cram as many in as they can where they fit. Thus the incentive is to make each battery an odd shape around the other things in the car.
Yeah, but standardized swappable batteries would be great for consumers, and ensure a used car market could exist.
A 15 year old car might not be supported by a manufacturer, but if it was a standard for those years there'd be a big enough demand even if it's a third party that fills the void.
We need to think long term, and cars being junk after a decade ain't a good long term strategy.
The cells should be individual 18650 which are standard and easy for a tech with the right training to replace. No need for a swap able battery, just repairable is all we need.