I wish them luck, because I'm always a fan of innovation wherever anybody finds it, but I suspect they're looking for it in the wrong place.
People looking to swap batteries seem to be focusing on the gas-station experience of ICEs, but that's not such a great thing. People don't love taking time out, once a week or more, to stand outside and pump chemicals. It's dirty, smelly, and unpleasant. And yet somehow car owners have simply incorporated it as a fact of life.
Most EV owners never charge anywhere except their homes. Others will charge at their work places, while shopping, or in hotels: places they already are. The time is seconds, not minutes: you spend the time doing whatever you were already doing.
There are still problems to overcome, but "more chargers" is a better solution than "gas stations but for batteries". It's not that there are no scenarios for swappable batteries, but that they are special cases rather than common ones. That becomes clearer when you realize how much of your life you get back by not going to gas stations at all.
Eh, if nothing else, having a standard makes it easier for you to get a replacement for your favorite battery you lovingly charge at home. If manufacturers have to be conned into supporting this basic level of repairability via a niche use case, so be it.
People looking to swap batteries seem to be focusing on the gas-station experience of ICEs, but that's not such a great thing. People don't love taking time out, once a week or more, to stand outside and pump chemicals. It's dirty, smelly, and unpleasant. And yet somehow car owners have simply incorporated it as a fact of life.
Most EV owners never charge anywhere except their homes. Others will charge at their work places, while shopping, or in hotels: places they already are. The time is seconds, not minutes: you spend the time doing whatever you were already doing.
There are still problems to overcome, but "more chargers" is a better solution than "gas stations but for batteries". It's not that there are no scenarios for swappable batteries, but that they are special cases rather than common ones. That becomes clearer when you realize how much of your life you get back by not going to gas stations at all.