JAN 11

one more thing: if the charging station aren't being powered by renewable energy sources and require coal power plants, then this system breaks down. and seeing as most of the U.S. still gets its power from burning fossil fuels, this would only work in places that do have green power availible

Coal power is still cleaner and more efficient than buring gasoline. Even if the electricity comes from coal, it is still an improvement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf4gOS8aoFk
The above link is to the video. There are like 4oo and something comments on just that page, but what I want to know from you,because you might actuallllly know...Does it have potential,or is it just blowing smoke?

MelissaFaith

I can think of a few reasons the cost may not be much more, may even be less with this scheme. First, we're not really talking about doubling the number of batteries... this depends how fast they can be charged. If, for example, the average EV goes 2 days of commuting between charges but it only takes half a day to charge, then you only need 25% more batteries.
Second, if this allows a slower charge, because the driver isn't waiting for it, the batteries may last longer.
Third, you would probably be renting the batteries (or the charge in them) from the charging station, so it would push the high upfront cost out in time, like paying for gas, which won't exactly save money, but will make paying easier.

MelissaFaith - that discovery has been discussed extensively (probably on ecogeek even), the basic conclusion being that it takes more energy in than you get out. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you could get the energy out as hydrogen gas that you can use, but it's certainly not free energy, and saltwater is not a fuel.

I don't have a link handy, but I'm telling you; hydrogen cars are absolutely the way to go. ...And I don't mean hydrogen hybrids which charge batteries. Electric cars may be better for the environment, but they're no good for you, dummy! ...Ever been told not to stand near a microwave oven while it's on? Yeah, well if you are enclosed in an electric car while it's going you are making yourself susceptible to leukemia and cancer. Being that close to such a powerful electromagnetic field is no good for you. It just amazes me that this doesn't occur to people.
For information about hydrogen vehicles, go to my blog by going to www.myfoxboston.com under the "news" categories, scroll through the pages until you find a blog called "Panic At Nabisco" by Graham_Cracker. I've done all of the research for you and broken it down in a very "hydrogen for dummies" kind of way. Of particular interest is the entry titled, "Dispelling Myths About Hydrogen". Check it out.

First, this removes one of the primary advantages of electric vehicles, and that is that the infrastructure is already in place

Not true. The benefit remains since you can still recharge from a wall outlet. It is still a battery after all.

Second, every car will require more than one battery

Not true. Such a system would require less total battery capacity. With a recharge only system, every car will probably have a very large battery. With swappable batteries you have a number of other options. You could have small batteries for the daily commute installed. If your taking a longer trip you might go to the station and swap in a long distance battery.

There's a number of other benefits in terms of management and comparable pricing:

http://tech.norabble.com/2007/...harge.html

I think it would be a good idea, though ultimately I think we need the even more modular system described by the concept I've spent some time describing:

http://tech.norabble.com/2007/...tions.html

Our version goes like this:

You drive into a fueling station (electric, gasoline, diesel, alcohol, etc.). An employee with a hand-operated lift truck (or in some cases a fully automated jack system) unlatches and jacks-down the battery from the back of your car and takes it away, while another employee (or another automated jack) jacks up a new one and latches it into place.

The meter on the old battery is read, and the amount of power remaining is deducted from the reading on the replacement battery. Thereby you pay for the actual electricity you use: for example the difference in cost between the charge in your your "quarter-charged" battery and the charge in a fully charged one you just picked up. Or if you like, you can exchange a 3/4-charged battery for a full one, like you might "top off" your gas or diesel fuel.

Total time required, perhaps two minutes, and you're on your way.

The batteries come in a few basic sizes, for example, small, medium, and large for automobiles, and analogous sizes for trucks. All vehicles are standardized to these battery sizes.

Normally you rent the batteries from a company whose role is analogous to that of a car or truck rental company at an airport: it owns the units and rents them out for a monthly rate or a surcharge on the power consumption, and it cycles them around to various fueling stations if needed (e.g. one station has a surplus of Smalls, another has a surplus of Larges, they can swap and equalize their stock of replacement batteries). Renting the batteries for a fixed cost and paying for power at an incremental cost is one possible arrangement. Or you can buy batteries and set up your own charging system at home, for example if you're off grid and want to charge the batteries on surplus solar while you're at work. If you buy batteries you also pay a deposit on each one (chances are you'll have two plus a hand trolly to exchange them) which is refundable when the battery is properly returned to the manufacturer for recycling.

Your annual motor vehicle tax is calculated when you bring the vehicle in for registration, based on your odometer reading compared to the previous year, rather than being calculated into the price of gasoline or electricity. (If you don't have time to bring it into DMV in person, you can ask any police officer to read the odometer and enter the reading into the DMV computer via the terminal in the patrol car.) There are ecological impact taxes calculated into the price of each fuel source, reflecting its real impact; thus there is still an advantage to using electricity, particularly if you have reasonably clean power sources. For those who wish to minimize their tax bite on principle, they can use offgrid power at home, for example grow their own vegetation for alcohol or use their own solar system, and they'll only pay the mileage tax, which is in any case needed to maintain the public roads.

The problem with this system, and with the one proposed in this column, is that it requires automobile manufacturers to standardize on a few specific designs of battery pack. And it requires charging equipment and battery exchange equipment at fueling stations. And it requires a battery maintenance company to handle the logistics of moving batteries around (which of course can be coordinated via "adaptive truck routing").

All of this is feasible from an engineering standpoint, the only problems are (as per usual) on the financial and administrative side, and these could be overcome with a bit of political will and courageous investment.