Most people don't drive their cars 24/7. Even on road trips it's more like 12 or 18 hours.
Once battery capacities reach the point where you only have to charge it at night for a full day's drive, you've solved the problem and you don't need to swap.
And, while the price tag is high, the 300 mile claimed range of the highest trim Model S gets a substantial part of the way to that standard.
Once battery capacities reach the point where you only have to charge it at night for a full day's drive, you've solved the problem and you don't need to swap.
Perhaps that's true... once batteries get about 2x as good as they are now, owners of cars like the Tesla won't have to worry so much about whether there will be power available at their destination.
My impression is that the next 2x improvement in battery tech is pretty far over the horizon, though. Plus, we simply do not have the grid capacity to replace most Americans' automobiles with rechargeable EVs. Not even by charging them at night. Once 80% of the houses in your neighborhood plug in an 8-kw load at night, this inconvenient truth will become obvious enough.
Exchangeable batteries could be charged anywhere, anytime, not just where and when they are needed. That's a big win regardless of what happens with the core technology of power storage.
>Once battery capacities reach the point where you only have to charge it at night for a full day's drive, you've solved the problem and you don't need to swap.
Modern batteries (LiFePO4) can be charged in 10-15 minutes. I know I'm going to want to walk around for 10-15 minutes after driving for 120 miles. Heck, that's even the recommendation to avoid DVT!
High range is one way to solve the problem. Fast-charge is another.
Once battery capacities reach the point where you only have to charge it at night for a full day's drive, you've solved the problem and you don't need to swap.
And, while the price tag is high, the 300 mile claimed range of the highest trim Model S gets a substantial part of the way to that standard.