[ausev] Electric energy transfer and storage limitations

[jefoy at mindspring.com]

This is actually an idea I have had for a long time and it offers something for the oil producing companies as well.

The limitation to long distance travel is storage capacity and charging time. One of the limiting factors in EV design and more importantly, cost, is the battery. 

Charging, even at high rates requires building a fueling infrastructure, something that won't happen until there is demand.

Imagine the concept of purchasing an EV without a battery. For power, you sign a lease agreement with a battery supplier (Exxon, BP, etc.) with the stipulation that you will not abuse their battery and in exchange they agree to supply you with a charged battery at any of their affiliate "filling stations". You pay an initial security deposit and the cost of the electricity used to charge the battery. 

The concept is the same as the "Blue Rhino" propane tanks, you can have your tank filled or exchange it for a full one (at a slightly higher charge than just filling your own). 

The company that owns the battery has the incentive to invest in state of the art charging and monitoring equipment to maximize the useful life of their batteries. They can track the battery history through on-board data logging to record excessive depth of discharge, number of charge cycles, average lifetime, etc. The car owner has the option of charging at home or the filling station exchange. The car owner never faces the worry of having to replace a bad battery pack unless they have to pay for "damages" caused by abusing the leased battery (prorated by the age of the battery). There might even be "damage insurance" that covers the battery.

The companies that own the batteries have an incentive to invest in improved battery technology. "get more miles per charge with the Exxon Maxicharge" or "feeling a little sluggish, try the new premium battery from BP, more peak amps than any competitor".

The infrastructure is already in place, many older combination stations already need something else to use the repair bay for. For just a little longer than it takes to fill a big car (and what better enticement to get you into the convenience store for a soda and a snack), you get a fresh battery and are on your way.

It is a win, win all the way around..

Jack Foy

-----Original Message-----
>From: gary <gkrysztopik at satx.rr.com>
>Sent: May 15, 2007 6:16 PM
>To: 'AustinEV News Announcements and General Discussion' <ausev at austinev.org>
>Subject: Re: [ausev] Electric energy transfer and storage limitations
>
>
>Imagine the connectors and cables that would be required
>to zap 21,600 kw of electric energy into your car for a minute.
>
>- why not swap out battery packs?  That could take about a minute if the
>car and "battery station" were designed for it.
>
>gary
>
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