Batteries, vehicle and infrastructure: interlocking elements of a new engineering system concept for personal mobility

The concept proposed aims at overcoming deterrents to Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption. The system features quick en-route exchange of batteries, requiring minimal equipment at the battery exchange station, which stands in favour of this EV system's adoption. The human interface of the equipment was devised to satisfy ergonomic requirements. Added convenience and speed of battery exchange can be achieved with more sophisticated equipment installed at exchange stations where depleted vehicle batteries are swiftly swapped for fully charged ones in only a couple of minutes. The EV proposed has standard plug-in capability for regular battery charge. It is based on a notion of ownership beyond common entrenched models, since the battery system is to be owned by the organisations that are to provide the en-route exchange service. The paper concludes listing the most important engineering aspects that need to be dealt with in the engineering design of the system concept.