It would seem that the only way to make EVs practical would be to have exchangeable battery units at every charging station.
Driver would pull in, exchange a unit, pay a rental fee, and drive off. Of course, that is wrought with problems, too.
A 45-minute recharge every 100 miles is impractical.
In theory, interchangeable batteries make sense but the battery needed to power a car is huge. It's not like someone can carry on around with a go-handle. Every charging station would have to have the equipment to handle the batteries, a technician to hook it up correctly, but more importantly, cars would have to be re-designed to allow for easy battery changes. Swapping batteries in current E-cars is a major job.
Absolutely agree, CATL is one of the larger battery suppliers for EV's, and will be producing a newer chemistry battery in 2023 that is rated for 100 miles/5 minutes. This is a big step in the right direction.
I'm waiting for commercialization of the Lithium Sulfate chemistry, which should provide similar (or better) charge rates, but with a 400% life expectancy. So, instead of the 150,000 / 8 year warranty - it's closer to 600,000 miles and 20 years before you drop below 80% original charge.
The next hurdle we are going to deal with is "Range Anxiety". Do you want to carry around a 600 mile range every day; if you are only "needing" a daily range of 300 miles? That's a lot of weight to be packing around, sort of like replacing your 15 gallon gas tank with a 50 gallon tank. Sure, you don't have to fill as often; but that's a lot of gasoline to pack around all the time.
Or build induction chargers into the roads.🤔