Electric Cars - Will Renting The Batteries Work?

As we enter into a period in which the [EV] electric vehicle seems to be a viable replacement for the gasoline powered combustion engine, a new company is offering a novel approach to the vehicle battery. The purchaser of a new EV would rent the battery and pay a per mile charge. If the battery needs replacing the system is automated as shown on the web site of Better Place.

Better Place explains their vision as:

Electric vehicles offer a superior driving experience, delivering instant torque and smooth acceleration in an ultra-quiet environment.

The electric car is becoming inevitable.  Nearly every major automaker has an active program to develop and introduce EVs, ultimately providing the consumer a broad range of options.  Better Place is currently working with the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which will be among the first to introduce EVs, and is also in discussion with major auto manufacturers around the world.

These electric vehicles will be distinctive in more respects than their zero tailpipe emissions.  EVs inherently provide instant torque, delivering smooth, seamless acceleration.  EVs also offer ultra-quiet operation.  And since these cars typically have half the moving parts of their gas combustion engine counterparts,  lower maintenance costs are expected.  All this means that in the coming decade, EVs will be at the center of mainstream personal transportation.

Better Place provides energy when and where you need it with a flexible network of charge spots and battery switch stations.

Charge spots

Plug-in virtually anywhere you go.  Better Place’s vast regional network of charge spots will provide convenient, reliable opportunities to charge EVs

Better Place intends to deploy charge spots at private homes, workplaces and public locations such as parking lots and streets.  As the vast majority of driving trips are shorter than the range of a fully-charged EV battery, Better Place anticipates that most subscribers will use charge spots as their primary method of recharging.  At your home, a Better Place charge spot will provide safe, reliable, high-power charging using the Better Place network.  On the street, in your work parking lot or at the shopping center, Better Place charge spots will be available to provide easy access to energy.

Battery switch stations

The Better Place battery switch stations are designed to allow drivers on a long trip to switch a depleted battery for one with a full charge, in less time than it takes to fill a tank with gasoline.

At a Better Place switch station, the driver enters a lane and proceeds along a switch-lane conveyor. The automated switch platform below the vehicle will align under the battery, initiate the battery release process and lower the battery from the vehicle. It will then replace the depleted battery with a fully-charged battery.  The depleted battery is placed in a storage room and recharged to be available to other drivers.  The process is completed in just a few minutes, while the driver remains in the car, providing a fast and convenient range-extension solution.

To better see how this technology would work you have to see the video on the Better Place web site. It shows a prototype of what appears to be a Nissan Rogue with a replaceable battery pack, being switched out at a battery replacement center.

See what you think of this idea.

Comments welcome.

Better Place Video Source.