Better Place's Automated Electric Car Battery Swap Station

better place ev electric car battery swap photo
Photo: Better Place

Get a New Battery in 1 Minute, 13 Seconds
Shai Agassi's vision for electric cars is coming closer to reality. To really get a good idea how this automated electric car battery swap machinery works, you need to check out the video below. 1 min 13 secs is pretty good, but looking at that video, it's obvious that they could make it even faster by moving everything around more quickly (maybe with counter weights to help balance it all out).

better place ev electric car battery swap photo
Photo: Better Place

In the picture above we see what battery storage might look like when seen from above.

Here's the juicy part of Better Place's press release:

Yokohama, Japan (May 12, 2009) -- Better Place today achieved a milestone in accelerating the mass-market adoption of electric vehicles by demonstrating the world's first battery switch technology along with electric car charging spots. [...]
Better Place showcased its battery switch platform today using a modified NISSAN electric crossover SUV to demonstrate how to switch a depleted battery for a fully charged one. The company also demonstrated its commitment to open network standards by charging a fixed battery, electric car, via one of four Better Place charge spots installed at the demonstration site. Recharging of the vehicle batteries is made possible by Sharp Corp. photovoltaic solar panels, creating a truly zero emission solution.

better place electric car battery pack photo
Photo: Better Place

Here's a battery pack.

(don't forget to click HQ to see the high-resolution version)

"The system works with two robotic battery shuttles on an automated track system. One battery shuttle holds the fully charged battery, which will be inserted into the vehicle, while the other shuttle simply removes the depleted battery from the vehicle. At the end of the process, the track system returns the removed battery to a storage bay for recharging and preparation for use in another electric vehicle. The battery shuttles are designed to work with a wide variety of battery enclosure sizes and shapes for universal application to a range of electric vehicles. "

Via Earth2Tech, Green Car Congress, AutoblogGreen

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