Battery Swapping A Key to Electric Vehicle Success?

Gymnasium Würselen Eco Drivers

Melisa Atas, Tim Azarvan, Chantal Bardenheuer, Carolin Bock, Ronja Johnen, Nora Lelabi

Table of contents

• Description of the region Aachen • Requirements to the mobility system• Our future system: Battery swapping • Comparison: Built-in Batteries / Switchable

Batteries• Company ‘Better Place’ idea network process

Table of contents

• Advantages of our System• Disadvantages of our System• The Tesla Concept• Plans for the future

Region Aachen

• In western North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany• Area: 707.15 km2

• Population region Aachen: 541,500• Neighboring districts and countries:– Heinsberg– Düren – Euskirchen– Netherlands– Belgium

Region Aachen

Sights:• Three-Country Corner• RWTH Aachen University• Aachen Cathedral • Medieval Town Hall• Hot Springs • TIVOLI(football arena)• University Hospital Aachen -Klinikum Aachen• World Equestrian Festival - CHIO Aachen

Age structure Region Aachen

4%

9%

13%

13%

15%

16%

11%

11%

6%2%

under 5 5-15 15-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55-65 65-75 75-85 85+

copyright: Wikipedia

38%

27%

16%

14%

3% 3%

Vehicles used in Aachen

CarBusTrainBicycleMotorcycleScooter

30%

37%

26%

7%

Kilometres each day

<1010<3030<50>50

Requirements to the Mobility System

• Good prices• Fast fuel/battery refill • Flexibility• Regularity, punctuality• Clarity• Environmentally friendly

Requirements to the Mobility System

• Cheaper bus connections• Short waiting times• Less traffic jams• No more use of fossil fuels renewable

energies• Less noise

Our future system: Battery Swapping

Our future system: Battery Swapping

• Exchangeable batteries Battery switch stations

• Conveniently located charge spots In cities: 3 kmOutside of cities: 15-20 kmHighways: 40 km

Comparison

Built-in Batteries Limited Range• Takes a long time to chargePrice• Expensive (can cost more than

$10,000)Capacity• Lose their capacity over time

owner has to buy a new one car loses its value

Upgrades • Upgrades very expensive

Switchable Batteries Unlimited Range• No charging

you get a fully charged batteryPrice• Customers only pay for the energy

capacity• Car gets sold without the batteryCapacity• Changing batteriesUpgrades • Car-owner gets benefits without

paying

Company Better Place

• Network of electric car battery changing stations (Israel and Denmark)

• Wanted to spread this model around the world

• Went bankrupt the 26th May 2013but: idea still alive e.g. Tesla(LA)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OHHvjsFm_88

The Better Place Concept

The Better Place Concept

The Better Place Concept

Advantages

• Cheaper for electric car owners they do not have to buy their own batteries (- $10,000)

• Reduction of prices for electric cars • Drivers do not have to leave the car during

swapping process

Advantages

• Takes less time than recharging the battery • The entire process takes only 90 sec• Do not have to pay for fuel only for the electricity they use

• Unlimited driving range network of battery switch stations

Disadvantages

• Takes lots of time and money to build the whole system

• Battery swap stations: $500,000 each• Every car: same size and configuration of

battery pack • "problematic for hotly competitive car

manufacturers“ obstacle for future innovation

The Tesla Concept

• Fast battery swapping (90 sec.)• Announcement June 2013: battery swapping station in each of the

supercharging stations• Owners can pick up their battery pack fully

charged on the return trip, which is included in the swap fee

Plans for the Future

• Worldwide transport network– possible to change the “German” batteries in

other countries no more problems because of nonuniform charging couplers

– Broken batteries can be exchanged everywhere– Uniform prices and contracts

Plans for the Future

• Not only for cars– Bus-swap stations at public places like the

“Bushof” in Aachen– Different kinds of batteries for motorbikes,

scooters or e-bikes

References• Information of the RWTH Aachen • Wikipedia.de• Electric mobility in North Rhine-Westphalia" Come on board, join the ride!

Düsseldorf 2011• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/02/expensive-batt

eries-are-holding-back-electric-cars-what-would-it-take-for-that-to-change/• http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/about/roadmap/index_en.h

tm• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/27/what-better-pl

aces-bankruptcy-tells-us-about-the-future-of-electric-cars/• http://www.dw.de/germany-miles-away-from-one-million-e-cars-goal/a-16832017•

http://theenergycollective.com/zachshahan/240466/tesla-wows-again-90-second-battery-swap-unveiled-video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OHHvjsFm_88• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VR3oLV4fdcE • http://unterkunft-reise.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/aachen.jpg• https://www.landesdatenbank.nrw.de/ldbnrw/online/

online;jsessionid=F5BF238CCCF400E7548231C44003F544.worker3?operation=startseite

Thank you for your attention!