I'm going to take the Nexcel oil cell and top it:

[LEAKYSEALS951]

It's my opus idea-
And like most of my ideas, it has already been thought of or done.
Perhaps not-
So here's the deal. If it has not been done- and you read it here first- give me the props and a d#$ big paycheck.


It goes like this.
I am a fuel cell fan. I like the idea because if mastered- it provides a practical energy carrier source, which can be dispensed QUICKLY.

Unfortunately, everyone is onto electric- which has one big drawback. There are not enough plugs in the universe- nor time- to recharge cars in the way we use them...

Hence- my idea

Make car batteries in one size and shape. The contacts are universal.
All car manufacturers agree to use this size/shape.

It is removable- like the oil cell, but from the bottom or back of the car (front on a 911). Basically- you pay a core charge for the battery. Once yours is depleted- you pull into a shell station (or whatever)- the attendant uses a cherry picker (or something) to remove your depleted battery from the car- like ejecting a large vhs tape- inserts another charged core battery into the car. You drive off- immediately- fully charged.

As battery technology improves- the shape stays the same- however- the power and range increases.

All the world problems solved (as far as electrical power concerned). Right?
Remember, you heard it here- I will happily accept 1 billion dollars.
You work up the rest.
You are welcome,
Ron.

[Joe Bob]

Not a new idea, but a good idea. However, getting a design acceptable to all is like herding cats. Not impossible but far from easy.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

My thought on that would be to have a company design the basic battery- and then kickstart the infrastructure to support the stations (exxon 21st century- whatever).
Car companies would see the benefit (by a number of means) to hopping on board, and then their "yes" groups would agree to modify the designs to use the battery. It might start out as a beta vs vhs- but a vhs would eventually take charge- and become standard. You want to cash in on electric?- Use the nation wide grid source that is already in place.

It really solves everything. The eco-friendly grocery store chargers can only go so far- and as a bonus- the core batteries could be charged by those devices- so you could recharge at home if you wanted- but dump cores if you wanted to go on a roadtrip.

[devodave]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

My thought on that would be to have a company design the basic battery- and then kickstart the infrastructure to support the stations (exxon 21st century- whatever).
Car companies would see the benefit (by a number of means) to hopping on board, and then their "yes" groups would agree to modify the designs to use the battery. It might start out as a beta vs vhs- but a vhs would eventually take charge- and become standard. You want to cash in on electric?- Use the nation wide grid source that is already in place.

It really solves everything. The eco-friendly grocery store chargers can only go so far- and as a bonus- the core batteries could be charged by those devices- so you could recharge at home if you wanted- but dump cores if you wanted to go on a roadtrip.

Great concept. I bet Volkswagen would be all in.

[GH85Carrera]

A gas station can pump a lot of gasoline in a short time. The energy in one tanker truck of gas is equal to a huge stack of batteries that would have to be kept inside. I think you need to do some energy calculations.

[john70t]

Great idea.

I posted the same thing on Pelican Parts about a decade ago.
Public sphere.
Well before Elon Musk filed a patent on the same idea.
I created a new thread on the topic, citing his patent number in the title, and gave anyone and everyone free use of my idea.

Yeah it makes sense.
But herding cats...I mean major automobile manufacturers...is another topic altogether.

[dad911]

Gas=33.4 Kilowatt-hours per gallon, and weighs 6.3 lbs.

Prius battery pack = 1.3 kwatt-hours(only half used to preserve battery?), and weighs 100 lbs.

It would take over 2500 pounds (5000 lbs to preserve batteries) of batteries to equal a gallon of gas.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

A gas station can pump a lot of gasoline in a short time. The energy in one tanker truck of gas is equal to a huge stack of batteries that would have to be kept inside. I think you need to do some energy calculations.

5500+ Gallons of gas(small tanker) = 6875 TONS of batteries.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by dad911

Gas=33.4 Kilowatt-hours per gallon, and weighs 6.3 lbs.

Prius battery pack = 1.3 kwatt-hours(only half used to preserve battery?), and weighs 100 lbs.

It would take over 2500 pounds (5000 lbs to preserve batteries) of batteries to equal a gallon of gas.



5500+ Gallons of gas(small tanker) = 6875 TONS of batteries.

In 2014, about 136.78 billion gallons1 (or 3.26 billion barrels) of gasoline were consumed2 in the United States, a daily average of about 374.74 million gallons (or 8.92 million barrels). This was about 4% less than the record high of about 142.35 billion gallons (or 3.39 billion barrels) consumed in 2007.Mar 12, 2015

So the future power stations where we will have to go to swap our batteries will be the size of the local airport to have room to store the batteries.

[dad911]

For electric(only) cars to work*, they need to be orders of magnitude more efficient (store energy from braking, downhill coasting, solar, and passenger farts) and will probably need some sort of charging grid in the roadway, like the inductive charging pads for a phone. Prius (hybrid) model (carry your own generator/charger) probably makes the most sense.

*ok for commuting, current 100 mile+/- range won't cut it for trips.

[sc_rufctr]

What we need is that breakthrough battery technology but short of cold fusion I think it's a pipe dream for now.

But the use of nano carbon tubes seems promising. Nanomagazine

[GH85Carrera]

I saw a clip of one of the many presidential candidates making the typical campaign speech. Something on the order of "We HAVE to cut our use of fossil fuels and develop alternative energy sources" and I would think almost anyone would agree. The problem is there is no other viable reliable source except nuclear energy. The only other choice is living in the stone ages and we will need to eliminate several billion humans to have room in the caves. I sure don't want to give up technology.

We might as well try to cut our dependence on gravity or the laws of thermodynamics. I am all for some other energy source, but there is nothing on the horizon in my lifetime.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Yeah, I figured it must have been thought of so I wasn't too surprised when I woke up still not a billionaire.

I remember studying the power supplied/weight of gas so long ago- and how batteries weren't even close.

It does get me wondering as some have indicated- how much space a charging station would need. For example- take the number of cars a typical gas station gets, and use that number to estimate the number of batteries on hand charging on site. Then estimate the size of the battery. I'm not talking an interstate type station- more of a neighborhood type size.
I was thinking it would be big, but now I'm thinking it would have to be huge.

[herr_oberst]

Battery technology is moving forward far too quickly to standardize a battery for all cars.

And, what you are talking about is something that Elon Musk has proposed, (and rejected) but specific to Tesla battery packs:

Musk: Tesla "unlikely" to pursue battery swapping stations

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

"We HAVE to cut our use of fossil fuels and develop alternative energy sources" and I would think almost anyone would agree.

Why?
Why would we HAVE to give up our best option, the cheapest and most efficient option that gives us incredible freedom and drastically improves our standard of living, for no reason?

Doesn't make sense.

OH wait, I forgot.
The enviro-wackos programmed us to say "OIL BAD".

[KNS]

Israel tried the battery swap program for electric cars a few years ago (Better Place). It was based in Palo Alto but implemented in Israel. It went bankrupt in 2013.

[flipper35]

I think they also tried it as a slurry to be pumped out and replaced back in 07 or 08. Would have been about the same time spent as pumping gasoline. No where near the range though.

[Bill Douglas]

Not for me. I've lost a lot of money already investing in battery technology already (lithium technology corporation chapter 11).

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Not for me. I've lost a lot of money already investing in battery technology already (lithium technology corporation chapter 11).

Lol, yeah, I had a bunch of that paper too.

Used it to soak up oil spots under the 911.

Seemed an appropriate use since it was too hard to use for TP.

[asphaltgambler]

A good idea ............but the one issue is I can't imagine is all vehicle manufacturers agreeing on anything unless it padded their pockets. Then what about the battery manufacturer's? Just offering 1 size battery? I don't see that benefiting them at all.

Also the one 'technology' everyone seems to agree on is moving from 12 volts to 36-48. The idea is smaller wire gauges to carry less amps / more volts, the starter and alternator would also be much smaller but capable of accomplishing same requirements.

The benefit is less cost and weight which in any manufacturing environment......... is a win

[GH85Carrera]

I can for sure see the auto manufacturers moving to 48 volts. It is pretty much a win-win for the car and the owner. Much less weight from the copper wires and less cost to make a little copper wire.

And as mentioned, a one size fits all battery is just not going to work. A sub-compact striped down car does not need a battery big enough to run a fully optioned Ford Excursion.