A new type of charging cable could charge electric cars in 5 minutes

[DeathRanger]

The thing is, for the average american driving 39 miles per day. They could charge anywhere there is 110/120v outlet. Those outlets are Level 1 charging and usually provide around between 3-5mph charge. given 8 hours of sleep/charge time that's 24 - 40 miles charged

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[Blmpkn]

I agree. The stations would take up too much room and pricey to build. So far it works pretty good for NIO customers but IMO not a good long term solution. Charging stations, similar to gas stations currently, will be the the best long term solution.

Too much room, too pricey to build, completely impractical when considering the size/location/weight of battery pack.. not to mention warranty issues.. liability issues.. what a complete nightmare.

Imagine going to swap out your 2 day old battery for one that's been in service for 10 years and has a range of 26 miles lol.. I'll definitely pass.

 

[VAMike]

That's why I said in the current configuration, it's not feasible but with time and better design, it could be done.

In time and with better designs, why faff around with pulling batteries out when cord problems can also be solved with time and better designs. ?‍ By the time you could get replaceable batteries to work well, you'd be solving a problem that nobody had anymore.

 

[Rp930]

That's why I said in the current configuration, it's not feasible but with time and better design, it could be done. The batteries could remain down low, the challenge is making it easy to remove and replace. Another and likely bigger obstacle would be an industry standard. Hell they can't even agree on one standard plug in type.

Too heavy to move around and store even if there was a standard. It takes a rather large forklift to move them. High speed chargers can charge 80% in a little over 15 minutes.

 

[biggestjosh]

Definitely exciting progress. My wife wanted to get an electric car, but we ended up getting a plug-in hybrid (can go ~45 miles on electric, then also has a hybrid ICE that does another ~300 on its ~7-mile tank).

She just plugs it in our garage overnight and it's fully charged by morning for her ~20-mile roundtrip commute. Electricity is super cheap in our region too.

We do a lot of weekend trips to more remote areas where access to charging stations isn't great. That's why we ended up getting the PHEV instead of full EV—we can just rely on gas for longer trips (this was before I got my Ranger, which is now our go-to vehicle for weekend getaways).

I'm excited for the charging infrastructure to continue it's rapid expansion, and would love to trade "up" as much as possible to full EV in the future.

 

[Texasota]

Terrible idea. It's too early in the evolution of the technology to try to fix a form factor for something as fundamental as the batteries--the tech is just moving too fast. Beyond that, the best place for the batteries is low in the vehicle, and if you make them easy to access externally you're going to have major potential issues from moisture/salt/etc getting in. It's really hard to engineer a door that can stand up to abuse in a retail service context, is waterproof & easy to access, and isn't massive.

Agreed. But even more of a concern to me is you pay a small fortune for an EV with a new and expensive HVB. And then you immediately swap it out and have it replaced with another battery that may have been abused and nearing end of life? I'll stay with my new EV battery and deal with the charging issues. I won't even swap the propane tank on my weber grill because of the same concerns.

 

[myothercarizahearse]

Only 6x-7x what the normal house puts out... nice no biggie.

that's if they are pulling the whole 200amps that is running from the pole. in reality it's probably 15 in the summer all with ac set to arctic

 

[outdoorphotog]

that's if they are pulling the whole 200amps that is running from the pole. in reality it's probably 15 in the summer all with ac set to arctic

very true

 

[VAMike]

Agreed. But even more of a concern to me is you pay a small fortune for an EV with a new and expensive HVB. And then you immediately swap it out and have it replaced with another battery that may have been abused and nearing end of life? I'll stay with my new EV battery and deal with the charging issues. I won't even swap the propane tank on my weber grill because of the same concerns.

I'd actually be happy if batteries were easy to swap, from that perspective--if they were easy-to-exchange consumables they'd almost certainly be available more cheaply. If you got one that was nearing EOL, just exchange it for another one.

I don't consider the propane tank on a grill to be something to cherish--they have about a 10y life and then they're trash. The only reason I generally don't do the tank exchange is that I can get the propane cheaper, but I will do it if there regular place is closed and I'm in a hurry.

 

[AdamHarris]

Damn who knew we had so many Electro Chemical Engineers on a Ranger forum! ?

 

[BudB]

Seems like a game changer to me. I've always thought that electric vehicles would never become mainstream until they could recharge at a five minute stop like gasoline and diesel ones do.

My solution is have battery changing stations, not charging stations. You pull in, they yank out your dead battery, put it on the charge, and give you a fully charged battery. If engineered correctly, that process should take no longer than a regular gas fill-up.

That's always how I thought it would end up, too.

 

[got3fords]

Hmmm...gasoline catching on fire or 2,400 amps going sideways...life's interesting choices...

 

[outdoorphotog]

Electric cars are going to go the same way as the Dodo bird and the gold rush.

 

[HTX1811]

Unfortunately for some life is a self correcting problem.

 

[TJC]

Having a fast charge station is only 1/3 of the equation, and the least expensive 1/3 as well.

The next 1/3 is keeping the batteries cool. An engineering issue that given enough time I think is solvable.

But the big show stopper is the final 1/3 of the equation, the nation's electric grid is woefully inadequate, and is barely sufficient to meet the nation's needs even today. In fact the USA power generation capability peaked a few years ago, and has begun to slowly decline.

Dot the country with tens of thousand of 2400 Amp charging stations, then sit back and watch the lights go out as the grid crashes. All 3 major grids are stressed, and EVs have not yet come of age.

Until the nationwide infrastructure is in place to support 289.5 million EVs (the number of cars registered in the USA in 2021), the move to EVs will be stalled. There are presently only 1.4 million EVs on the road and half are in California.

As Dandy Don Meredith used to sing on Monday Night Football, "Turn out the lights, the party's over!"

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