Video: Better Place's automated electric vehicle battery switch station is faster than Melvin Dummar

It's massive, costs $500,000, and is just a prototype; but you're looking at a possible solution for swapping out heavy car batteries from future electric vehicles. Kind of important if you're hoping to take your EV on a trip a bit further than the supermarket or city center without having to stop for a lengthy recharge. This switch station, unveiled in Japan by Better Place, can swap out a spent battery in less time than it takes to refuel the tank in that baby-killer of a car you hold so precious. These battery swap stations are just part of the enormous infrastructure required to support Better Place's subscription approach to electric vehicles -- infrastructure easily estimated to cost $250 million or so for countries like Israel or Denmark on up to the $1 Billion already pledged by San Francisco Bay Area mayors. Better Place admits that the swap technology is a work in progress but hopes to have 150,000 charging stations and about 100 battery swap stations deployed in Israel by 2011. Check the video after the break.

[Orpheus @ May 13th 2009 8:14AM]

"Better Place...hopes to have 150,000 charging stations and about 100 battery swap stations deployed in Israel by 2011."

Admirable, but perhaps a little over-ambitious?

[Dazzling @ May 13th 2009 8:29AM]

Where is money there is will, where is will there is a way.
It looks to me that Israel is a battery powered vehicle infrastructure testbed for the US. With all that "good will" that US shows Israel, it would be hardly surprising. Even if not a full deployment is executed by 2011 there will be a lot of very valuable know how & feedback obtained from building this type of system.

[mikeybsimpson @ May 13th 2009 8:31AM]

Finally! An electric enema I can get behind... [or above].

[Alex @ May 13th 2009 9:33AM]

If anyone is willing to take the plunge to switch from oil I'm betting it's Israel.

[asuka @ May 13th 2009 2:54PM]

Hydrogen was a red herring promoted by the oil and auto industries so they could LOOK like they were researching alternative energy. It was chosen specifically because the tech was so vapor it would take decades to develop - decades that those industries could continue to sell oil and internal combustion engines. Plug-ins and specific-use EVs are the only feasible alternative that could actually be deployed in our lifetime.

[Bluecold @ May 13th 2009 8:21AM]

Or you could just fill your car up with hydrogen in the future. Foolish plan, this.

[kP @ May 13th 2009 10:14AM]

Yes, I will do that, as Hydrogen drips from the leaves of the trees and gathers in a large tank in my backyard.

[alex @ May 13th 2009 10:48AM]

It seems to me that electrical vehicles are MUCH more feasible than hydrogen vehicles - at least for the next few decades. We already have a distribution infrastructure for electricity, and battery technology has improved so much in only the past few years. Tesla's Model S, for example, has a 300 mile range and costs $60,000. Of course, this is needs to become cheaper but tech almost always becomes cheap with economies of scale. Hydrogen will require that we start nearly from scratch.

[Yodaman @ May 13th 2009 1:35PM]

Alex: You do know that you can use electricity to produce hydrogen in your garage, right?

[Noel @ May 13th 2009 1:46PM]

Yodaman: you do realize that electrolysis is really inefficient and even if you could create the hydrogen at 100% efficiency the fuel cell in your vehicle would convert it back to electricity at less than 60% efficiency. BEST CASE.

[Amun @ May 13th 2009 4:28PM]

In all fairness, 60% theoretical (carnot efficiency) is better than the ~40% that the internal combustion engine/diesel has. But I'm all for electric. =p

[loosely_coupled @ May 13th 2009 11:26PM]

Hydrogen is not a fuel, its an electricity carrier... and until they find a new way to make it without using natural gas, it's horribly inefficient to make it. And if you already have the electricity, why use it to create hydrogen from water when you could just pump the electricity into a battery? That said, a battery changing station is NOT the way to go.

At the present time --- essentially starting the transition to a "fossil fuel"-less future --- the best solution is a range-extended electric vehicle with a gasoline or diesel generator that is recharged at night at people's homes. Most days they won't even need to use the fuel, and on longer trips they don't have to worry about running out of electricity.

In the future, new battery technology will be used that can be recharged in minutes from "gas stations" that have large current electrical hookups. This technology is being worked on in the lab right now and some feasible form of it should be able to be mass produced in the next 10-20 years...

[Quark999 @ May 13th 2009 8:27AM]

And waste a lot energy creating the Hydrogen in the first place. The same applies to "bio" fuels grown on fields - in order to turn that stuff into real fuel, you need/lose that much energy that you better off powering a generator with it directly and running off REAL electricity.

[nxp3 @ May 13th 2009 8:32AM]

If I'm going to spend a lot of money on a battery car...I'd like to keep my brand new battery as oppose to somebody's used batter that don't keep a charge...I mean who wants to swap...I want to keep mine.

[ShadowMaker @ May 13th 2009 8:39AM]

I think the whole idea behind this might be, that you buy slightly less expensive cars and effectively only 'rent' the battery.
Why would you want to hold on to your own battery that will hold less and less charge as time goes by, while you can have a semi-brand new one every time you pull in for a pit stop?
This way you'll never have to buy a new battery when additional capacity cells arrive etc. You leave all the heavy lifting to Better Place.

On a related note, does anyone know if the 6-cell battery will protrude from the bottom of the car? Not a winning proposition with all those speedbumps et al.

[kadajawi @ May 13th 2009 8:40AM]

I don't think you will buy the car with the battery... at least not the battery. It's more like a subscription service probably, which I think is a good idea, because you will always have a somewhat new enough battery and won't have to worry about getting a new battery after a couple of years.

[jon @ May 13th 2009 9:07AM]

@nxp3,

Try a little research before you post, this is completely different from the automotive model we are used to. You buy the car for between $10k-15k, better place gives you a battery, they can only be charged from better place charging stations, which can be cheaply installed at your home, and you pay for the miles you use.

If the battery pack in your car starts to fail it will be replaced for free unlike other battery powered cars.

It is a subscription plan just like a cell phone, people who use lots of miles per year, taxi's and the like will get a discount on the up front cost of the car.

[Duke @ May 13th 2009 10:21AM]

Jon, we feeling a tad angry today? People are just discussing it and you are bothered that they didn't go out and fully research something before commenting in a blog. Relax man.

[Dougp @ May 13th 2009 10:58AM]

The other important point about this type of system (from a David Pogue article a few weeks ago), this idea of having charged batteries serve as almost a commodity that gets swapped in and out, allows rapidly changing battery technology to find its way into your car without you having to pay for a new set of batteries or, worse, a new car. I honestly believe from a business standpoint and as a replacement for petrol, a system like this will have to be in place for electric to succeed.

[Vigants @ May 13th 2009 8:37AM]

I think, that future is electric... but I propose to invest more money in more capable batteries to achieve 2000miles per charge. So you can travel full day and in the evening plug your car into hotel parking or in your garage.

For israel electric cars are allso a great way to ger spare energy in case of war.... just drive your car next to your home, plug in and you cas USE the energy stored in those batteries. :)

[superhobo @ May 13th 2009 8:38AM]

Rather have that super fast Li Ion charging technology in batteries.

[tobz1000 @ May 13th 2009 8:41AM]

This system places a lot of trust on people not to tamper with their batteries, unless it involves inspecting each battery that comes in.

[jon @ May 13th 2009 9:11AM]

The batteries are sealed units, they would be a PITA to mess with.
Your comment is kinda like being worried that in a city with a bike sharing program someone would change the gear cluster on one of the bikes.

[tobz1000 @ May 13th 2009 10:03AM]

Didn't know there was such a thing...

[Wwhat @ May 13th 2009 8:44AM]

Seems to work great in the video, as long as the underside of your car is spotless and dustfree, so it's important to plan those long trips to be over carpet in sunny places, keep that in mind please.

[Wwhat @ May 13th 2009 8:46AM]

P.S. I'm sure google route planner will have a carpeted roads checkbox soon, and the advantage of carpeted roads is that it'll cut the noise wonderfully1!

[rcarm @ May 13th 2009 8:53AM]

Who would clean the carpet then?

[doug @ May 13th 2009 9:47AM]

@rcram

the carpet would be cleaned by those hired to clean the carpet...creating millions of jobs around the US! im down with carpeted roads...but id go with a beige berber for a nice classic look.

[Wwhat @ May 13th 2009 10:51AM]

Or it's a trick of skynet for flooding the place with roombas

[Alex @ May 13th 2009 9:13AM]

Without the battery, your vehicle will still be usable - FLINTSTONES style! :D

[neon8 @ May 13th 2009 9:07AM]

why not just use a kuka robot under the platform? that'll take up much less space compared to those "battery shuttles" and probably be much more efficient.

[z0phi3l @ May 13th 2009 9:54AM]

Nice concept IF you have a BetterPlace car and battery, if you have some other companies set up, you have to use whatever they can come up with for replacements, so does that mean there will be even MORE changing stations than we have Gas Stations now? I'm pretty sure each manufacturer will come up with their own way of dealing with battery replacements instead of a standard solution

[HyperHacker @ May 13th 2009 11:18AM]

It would be best for everyone if they used a standard system. Unfortunately I can't see that happening. Isn't capitalism great?

[Spiny Norman @ May 13th 2009 12:26PM]

Car companies want to sell cars, not batteries. It's in their best interest to standardize on a battery pack, just as they've standardized on the size of the fuel nozzle at the gas pump. The more confident the consumer feels about being able to find a place to swap the battery, the more likely they are to purchase a vehicle.

How many people refuse to buy Sony products because of their proprietary shit? I'll never buy a Sony that requires a Memory Stick.

Mark

[musback @ May 14th 2009 2:45PM]

They don't care, as long as they can still be the masters of puppets (us driving their batteries).
I like this idea, but i prefer charging in MY OWN (solar powered) plug for free and not becoming dependent of another (battery in stead of oil this time) company again.

[maiaibing @ May 15th 2009 9:37AM]

Better places counts on different types of batteries from different makes- They think that every station should be able to hold about 12 "standard" types/sizes to accomodate the needs of the auto industry. This is alreday built in to the system. By the way - did you ever count how many types of gas your gas station has?

[Mike @ May 13th 2009 10:04AM]

This is really cool, but the only thing I wonder about is damaged batteries. There needs to a process in place that checks batteries before they are allowed to be replaced. Otherwise this is a great idea (if all car batteries are underneath the car).

[kP @ May 13th 2009 10:19AM]

Ahh.... The days before SuperCaps.....

[Spintronics @ May 13th 2009 11:20AM]

or magnetic batteries
http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2009/03/18/the-birth-of-the-magnetic-battery/

[MikeK @ May 13th 2009 10:36AM]

Very slick. I think Better Place has a really interesting approach to the issues of EV battery cost and recharging time. I live in the SF Bay Area, so some of these stations should be showing up around here. It will be really interesting to see how it goes. I've driven all-electric vehicles (an EV-1 and now a RAV4-EV) for the last 9 years, and they've been great. If this prompts wider adoption and use, I think it would be fantastic.

[er ic @ May 13th 2009 10:39AM]

Wonder how this would go over in Chicago when I drop off my snow, muck, and salt covered battery.

[myopiczeal @ May 13th 2009 1:51PM]

The batteries are sealed units, as they would have to be, exposed under the car. So they'll probably have a system to either wash the underside of the car before the change, or just drop the dirty battery out and clean it later. I won't add much time to the change, and will still probably be less than a standard fill-up. From what I've read, Shai Agassi, the mastermind behind this whole plan, is very forward-thinking; I think all of these issues will be worked out as needed for each market.

[Wwhat @ May 13th 2009 3:45PM]

No coincidence all the places mentioned are sunny, with only occasional rain, at which time you'll be asked to stay inside I guess.

[maiaibing @ May 15th 2009 9:41AM]

To wwhat: Sunny places like Denmark???? They have decided to have a nation wide Better Place station system 2011 that is fully deployed by 2012.

[O @ May 13th 2009 11:00AM]

Am I the only one who can see the inevitable fail when your average driver tries to line the front wheels up with that narrow track?

[Spiny Norman @ May 13th 2009 12:29PM]

I doubt the owner of the vehicle will be allowed to drive the vehicle into the swap area. When 10 minute oil change places first sprung up, the driver would stay behind the wheel. I assume one too many accidents and lawsuits later, an employee generally drives the car into the bay. I really don't give a rat's ass. I'd prefer to throw someone the keys and go buy a soda and hit the restroom while they screw with the car.

[AppleSauce @ May 13th 2009 12:44PM]

I think that's why they typically describe the swap stations in a representation more like a carwash.

The video shows a tech-demo installation built for inspection by Japanese auto engineers. Actual roadside implementation of swap stations will include the lifting arm mounted parallel (not perpendicular, as in the demo) to the vehicle travel direction, and the lifting arm will be locked in step and moving with the car as it travels along the 'carwash' track. As such, the driver should only need to line it up about as close as they would for a carwash... which is not much.

How they handle the inevitable weight shifting of occupants and such - I have no idea, but assume they're working on it.

[maiaibing @ May 15th 2009 9:46AM]

System is made such, that perfect alignement is not needed. You can even park quite badly. the battery has a computer, that helps it self aligned. You could see it take a misaligned battery (they could not misalign the car on the demo ramp) during one of the demoes (I was there).

[Frist @ May 13th 2009 11:33AM]

I just wonder how long it will be until the oil companies buy this company and moth ball it. I heard a lot of small companies with great EV ideas are getting bought up and scuttled. Of course I hope this isn't true.

I think EVs and these charging ideas are fantastic and need to be co-funded by the Obama admin and put on the fast track.

Scott

[Spiny Norman @ May 13th 2009 12:33PM]

Why would the oil companies mothball it? It case you haven't noticed, the oil companies are becoming energy companies. If there's a profit to be made, you can be sure they will be all over it.

While we can all argue about how much oil remains, it's basically accepted as fact that oil production has peeking, and we'll run out at some point. The oil companies may as well get in on the ground floor. If anything, the oil companies have a great head start, as they own a lot of premium real estate, i.e. gas stations at major intersections. I believe you'll begin to see some of these converting into battery swap stations in the next decade or so.