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Turksarama t1_j1ufn5q wrote

Reply to comment by Cloaked42m in Battery swapping spurs Kenya's electric motorbike drive by For_All_Humanity

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Cloaked42m t1_j1ugny5 wrote

Which is a design flaw and constraint that can be changed.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Miguel-odon t1_j21m7u6 wrote

Do you not use machinery to put fuel in your car?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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doctorzoom t1_j1up9yg wrote

Split the big battery into easily managed cells. A bike would take 1 cell, a mini car 4, etc.

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