CATL says it has co-developed 10 new EV models with swappable batteries

Swappable batteries are a terrible idea.<p>1) Cars increasingly make batteries structural components. Swappable batteries are extremely hard to realize, as they need very complex mechanical constructions. Leading to <i>even more</i> expensive EVs.<p>2) Infrastructure is the largest challenge in adoption. Swapping infrastructure is far more complex than charging infrastructure. Reach anxiety can be counteracted by a dense grid of chargers. A grid of battery swap stations is necessarily thinner than a charging grid. Each station is more expensive and needs more maintenance.<p>Swappable batteries make the two problems EVs are facing worse. No serious company should consider them and no infrastructure for them should be financed.

Battery swapping has some great strengths - much quicker than even fast charging, and none of the thermal&#x2F;lifespan problems that come with super-fast 300kW chargers. It&#x27;s good for the people who can&#x27;t charge at home to have a range of options available.<p>And of course if battery swapping let range-nervous drivers feel safe buying a 150-mile-range car rather than a 300-mile-range car, that would lower the upfront costs of vehicles significantly.<p>The downside, as I see it, is presumably you&#x27;re locked into a single-vendor battery rental and charging contract for the entire life of the vehicle.<p>After all, if I could take my car with 100,000 miles on the battery to a swap station, pay $20 and drive out with a brand new battery that was mine to keep forever? Great deal for me. Not such a great deal for whoever pays for a swap, loses their nearly new battery and gets my heavily worn battery.<p>And presumably you&#x27;re going to struggle to sell the car second hand if the buyer has to pick up your $100&#x2F;month battery lease.