How useful is the battery warranty, really?

Again, how is that an improvement? Even if we entered the realms of science fiction and battery energy density increased by a factor of 10, you'd still be talking about 30-40kg of batteries

Have you ever rocked up to a petrol station and thought "filling this car is so inconvenient that I'd rather lug around a couple of full jerry cans of auxiliary tanks"?

I'm going to guess the answer is no

As for easier maintenance, it's already easy enough for a mechanic to repair batteries. Some of the main brand garages seem reluctant to do it, probably because they haven't got the training or the equipment. Or they aren't bothered

There is a growing cohort of specialist EV garages that can do cell or module level battery repair, making it a lot more economical to keep an out of warranty EV going

Sure, but who's talking about needing a beast of a fella on the forecourt to lift batteries in and out?

A properly designed and engineered system with a degree of standardisation enforced on manufacturers would result in a similar parallel well designed and engineered system on forecourts to deal with this using mechanical, likely automated lifts. That would require no greater input from the driver or car than to park in the correct spot and have the driver or car unplug and replug.

Manufacturers will rail against this at the moment and owners of EVs not compatible with such a system but if EVs are the future, then the sooner the EU et al seize the nettle and enforce the better.

But then, maybe EVs are not the future? Just a transient technology. And therefore no need for more regulation as they'll have their day to be replaced with something else and the manufacturers can churn the market again…. is that closer to the truth?

Swappable batteries are a simple, elegant concept that would solve several of the issues that concern EVs. It's as plain as the nose on your face.

Designed properly from the start, a human transport vehicle based on standardised batteries and charging systems that would be efficient and convenient would utilise a swappable battery system.

But quite likely there is no need, we'll putter on till some new idea hits the shelves. Maybe EVs will be like the TV repeaters of yore, all the fashion and need for a few years, now found rusting away on hillsides around the country.

You said smaller and lighter but you did not quantify capacity in kWh or weight. These details are core to your spare 'smaller and lighter' battery concept.

I did not miss that at all. I was politely querying whether you missed these important details.

What range issue?

NIO seem to ignore the lessons from history why no idea. I assume they think if they throw money and scale at a problem they'll capture a market somehow.

Why stop at the battery. Why not just swap the car. Same issues of viability and common sense.

I can say from experience of driving 900km in a single day in an EV that battery swapping would not have improved the journey at all

The whole journey was drive 3 hours -> charge for 20 mins -> drive another 3 hours -> charge for 30 mins -> drive 2.5 hours

Assuming the battery swap took 10 mins it would have turned a 9.5 hour journey into a 9.25 hour journey

Wow...what a saving

Except I have to stay in the car during the swap so if I wanted to eat or use the facilities then that would be extra, so back up to 9.5 hours

Promoting battery swaps is like flogging a dead horse

Since @liamog is talking about modern battery technologies capable of getting to a million km, you're hardly going to see one now since these have only been in production models for a relatively very short time.

A Tesla model S did exceed a million miles (almost 2 million km) this year, but it was a 2014 model (so 10 years to get to that landmark) and with very old battery technology. It had 4 battery packs in that time and 13 motors.

Assuming the four battery packs were all exhausted in the 1.9 million km, that's almost 500k per pack.

There's also a Turkish taxi driver tootling around in a 2017 Renault Zoe with 350k on the clock and 96% battery state of health.