Submitted by For_All_Humanity t3_zvznmd in Futurology
For_All_Humanity OP t1_j1s0bk4 wrote
> Over recent months, sets of sturdy, brightly-branded battery swapping stations have cropped up around Kenya's capital Nairobi, allowing electric motorcyclists to exchange their low battery for a fully-charged one.
>It is a sign of an electric motorcyle revolution starting to unfold in Kenya where combustion-engine motorbikes are a cheaper and quicker way to get around than cars but environmental experts say are 10 times more polluting.
>East Africa's biggest economy is betting on electric-powered motorcycles, its renewables-heavy power supply and position as a technology and start-up hub to lead the region's shift to zero-emission electric mobility.
>The battery swapping system not only saves time - essential for Kenya's more than one million motorcyclists, most of whom use the bikes commercially - but also saves buyers money as many sellers follow a model in which they retain ownership of the battery, the bike's most expensive part.
>"It doesn't make a lot of economic and business sense for them to acquire a battery...which would almost double the cost of the bike," said Steve Juma, the co-founder of electric bike company Ecobodaa.
>Ecobodaa has 50 test electric motorcyles on the road now and plans to have 1,000 by the end of 2023 which it sells for about $1,500 each - roughly the same price as combustion-engine bikes thanks to the exclusion of the battery from the cost.
>After the initial purchase, the electric motorcyle - designed to be sturdy enough to traverse rocky roads - is cheaper to run than petrol-guzzling ones.
>"With the normal bike, I will use fuel worth approximately 700-800 Kenyan shillings ($5.70-$6.51) each day, but with this bike, when I swap a battery I get one battery at 300 shillings," said Kevin Macharia, 28, who transports goods and passengers around Nairobi.
EXPANSION PLANS
>Ecobodaa is just one of several Nairobi-based electric motorcycle startups working to prove themselves in Kenya before eventually expanding in East Africa.
>Kenya's consistent power supply which is about 95% renewable led by hydroelectricity and has a widespread network, was a major support for growth of the sector, said Jo Hurst-Croft, founder of ARC Ride, another Nairobi-based electric motorcycle startup.
>The country's power utility estimates it generates enough to charge two million electric motorcycles a day: electricity access in the country is over 75%, according to the World Bank, and even higher in Nairobi.
>Uganda and Tanzania also have robust and renewables-heavy grids that could support electric mobility, said Hurst-Croft.
>"We're putting over 200 swapping stations in Nairobi and expanding to Dar es Salaam and Kampala," said Hurst-Croft.
ttystikk t1_j1s77xw wrote
This is an example of developing nations finding the most cost effective models for the rollout of new technologies. Good stuff!
abrandis t1_j1witrq wrote
Exactly, India has been doing something similar with their traditional tuk tuk , their literally ripping out the engine and replacing with an electric motor, since over time it's much cheaper to run... Sometimes they even "borrow" electricity from the grid
ttystikk t1_j1wqqye wrote
I'm sure they do. An electric tuk tuk is an improvement in nearly every way. I'm even fine with losing the nostalgic tuk tuk noise lol
Cloaked42m t1_j1ubhwn wrote
I can't tell you how many times I've been told this very thing was impossible and couldn't be done. Just design cars to have swappable batteries. Even bring back full service stations to have someone go and pull your battery and swap in a fresh one. Then take the battery and plug it into the charging station.
Universal charging points on the batteries and standardized shapes. Duracell, get on it.
thefifeman t1_j1ubwmo wrote
Maybe for cars it's a different story. Significantly larger battery that can't be easily moved by hand.
For_All_Humanity OP t1_j1ucb5j wrote
Yes unlikely this will be a thing for medium-large vehicles. Maybe for ultra light vehicles which won’t show up in many countries. Primary focus in Africa and Asia is dealing with the motorbike problem. They’re loud and dirty and everywhere.
Cloaked42m t1_j1uccia wrote
Edited my comment to allow for that.
Standardized shapes of car batteries plus full service stations. It would allow for you to have your battery changed out in 5 minutes and be back on the road. Plus create entry level jobs.
It would make EVs cheaper now that you know you aren't on the hook to pay tens of thousands to replace a battery.
Truck stops could have specialized systems to take care of the bigguns, or it could just be multiples of D type car batteries.
LiquidVibes t1_j1uf5ah wrote
Bro you are ignoring the true issue here: EV companies are insanely battery constrained. For this to work you would need to produce 10x more batteries than cars as you need to have a shitton available at each swapping station
It’s just not possible in a battery constrained environment
doctorzoom t1_j1uoy9j wrote
If you could charge them fast enough, you'd only need a small amount of batteries at the swap points.
Cloaked42m t1_j1ug27e wrote
It's not possible with the 'types' of batteries we use.
If you went with smaller, replaceable batteries, that maybe aren't as efficient, then you could do it.
LiquidVibes t1_j1ui8ml wrote
Could be possible with the new LFP batteries Tesla started using, they are very cheap and easy to produce as they are mostly just a block of iron.
The issue as you pointed out is that range will be very impacted. This is bad for adoption as 90% of charging is done at home anyways.
Cloaked42m t1_j1ujy6k wrote
Redesign so you have a dozen batteries, but smaller, and load them like rifle rounds. You can stop at a station to 'fill up'.
An attendant comes up to your car, offloads batteries, goes and exchanges them for good batteries. Then comes back and loads up the good ones. Car shuffles them as needed, you pay your bill, and off you go.
You could even automate the process with self driving cars. They pick a nearby station, go to it, lines you up with the service gantry.
An automated process goes through the whole thing. You get an option to get out of your car to go to the store (with ads) while the process is going on.
Miguel-odon t1_j20emwc wrote
If there was a standardized battery for them to design around, wouldn't that make it easier? You wouldn't need 10x
Turksarama t1_j1ufn5q wrote
Batteries for these bikes weigh maybe 20kg (~45 lbs), whereas an electric car battery is closer to 500kg (~1200 lbs).
One of these can be swapped by hand, the other needs heavy machinery.
Shillbot_9001 t1_j1xm2uy wrote
>the other needs heavy machinery.
It needs an engine crane,not exactly an expensive or hard to use piece of machinery.
Turksarama t1_j1xyr1b wrote
You want to use one of those every time your battery is empty? It may not be hard but you have to account for the stupidest person in the room, someone will manage to crush themselves.
Miguel-odon t1_j20euu4 wrote
The battery-swap station would need some sort of equipment, yes. Operating it could be part of the service. It could even be automated.
Cloaked42m t1_j1ugny5 wrote
Which is a design flaw and constraint that can be changed.
Turksarama t1_j1uh8mp wrote
There are engineering problems and then there are physics problems, making a battery with enough energy to be useful for a car and light enough to be lifted by an average person is the latter.
Not going to happen.
Miguel-odon t1_j20f3ph wrote
>light enough to be lifted by an average person
You just added an unnecessary design constraint.
Most people couldn't carry 14 gallons of gasoline, either, but have no problem getting their tank full.
Turksarama t1_j21jb7d wrote
Describe to me how you think this might work. Swappable batteries that do not need to be loaded by heavy machinery, and also don't need to be lifted by anyone. I'm dying to know your design.
Miguel-odon t1_j21m7u6 wrote
Do you not use machinery to put fuel in your car?
Turksarama t1_j21qo8u wrote
Yes, and that machinery is analogous in use to the fast chargers that currently exist.
I do not swap out the empty fuel tank for a full one. Go ahead, describe the process.
Cloaked42m t1_j1ujdgg wrote
That's if you assume a single battery instead of multiple batteries.
It also assumes that you can't provide equipment to deal with additional weight.
Turksarama t1_j1umbho wrote
Ok, hands up who wants to hand load 25 heavy batteries. There's no audience but I'm imagining a stadium with no hands up.
Cloaked42m t1_j1uwf65 wrote
It's like you forgot that machines exist and are customized to purpose.
Or do we hand carry steel beams from place to place?
doctorzoom t1_j1upqua wrote
Could be a team of people. Could be the folks that are in the coal mines, gas and oil fields. Each swap station visit would feel like a pit stop.
doctorzoom t1_j1up9yg wrote
Split the big battery into easily managed cells. A bike would take 1 cell, a mini car 4, etc.
abrandis t1_j1wj1ze wrote
As others noted logistically auto batteries are very heavy and would require special machines at each station to exchange them (aka not a cheap solution) , plus as fast charging say 30min to 80% becomes more common its just much easier to do that..
Cloaked42m t1_j1wlz15 wrote
I wouldn't consider a 30 minute stop to partially fill the tank an okay thing.
It's futurology. Dream of the solution.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments