Battery Upgrade program

[davidMVA]

Something is missing in the EV market today : upgradable batteries
The reason we keep our PCs so long is because they can be upgraded to extend their life and keep pace with technology evolution.
There will be tremendous improvements in battery technology in the next few years. A 2012 EV will be worth nothing 5 years from now because new EVs will cost less and have a longer driving range.
If I had to sell EVs (but do automakers really want to sell EVs???), I'd design one where the battery and computer systems can be upgraded. Taken even further, I would sell the car, but the battery would be a loan. You could even chose your battery type depending on your needs. Want more range, rent a larger battery pack.
You could also have "battery plans" like you have phone plans.

But hey, I'm only the consumer. What do I know?

 

[klaus]

There are some electric vehicle companies trying this, although mainly in Europe with the Renault and the Citroen I think?

Coda has talked about that with their Coda Sedan that's supposed to be available in North America any time now - but I don't know what the current status is.

Since it's something that should only need to be dealt with in 5-10 years, it's still something that could be swapped for a better battery pack in the future, even in the Ford Focus Electric. It just takes a bit of work to get to the battery pack, but no more work then swapping a tranny or timing belt etc on an ICE vehicle

 

[california]

Renault is leasing the battery in it's Zoe in Europe, so far they seem to be having success, but I guess it's too early to tell.

 

[ElectricEV]

Would this not be the same idea as selling a car without an engine? Automakers are constantly making their engines better and a car engine made five years ago is certainly not nearly as efficient or well built as one now. Its a good idea in theory but there are many many reasons the American car industry would never do this. I am hoping they just focus on bringing the Ford focus electric's price point down. If you start there everything else should follow. I also doubt that a focus ev that can go over 100 miles on 1 charge will be that obsolete in 5 years. I mean its been an over 2 year delay just to get the current Ford focus ev to market and there still having trouble. Forget a replaceable battery lets just get the ev cars on the road. How much would it cost just drop a new battery into a car? Most car leases are also for 3 years meaning a lot of people get a brand new one long before the 5 year mark.