Electric car battery swap station trial in Japan

On Tuesday Better Place showed off an automated electric vehicle battery-swapping station, which takes about one minute to remove a depleted battery and slip a fresh one in.

The switching station uses robotic battery "shuttles" on a track system that removes a depleted battery for recharging and inserts a fresh battery; the battery shuttles are designed to work with a variety of different battery sizes. As the batteries are located on the underside of the car, a driver pilots the car up a ramp and stays in the car during the battery exchange. For a full demonstration check out the video to the right.

Better Place's prototype station in Yokohama, Japan is part of a government sponsored test of electric vehicles. The vehicles being tested are modified Nissan Dualis four-wheel drives that run entirely on battery power. At the prototype station, the batteries are charged from a large solar photovoltaic array, allowing for zero-emissions driving, according to Better Place.

Better Place's business model is to sell customers a subscription service to charge batteries, which are owned by Better Place. Customers get access to charging stations at home and in public places, as well as battery swapping stations for longer rides. (For more details on this, check out our interview with Better Place Australia's CEO, Evan Thornley).

The anticipated range from the first electric cars, which Better Place's partner Renault-Nissan are developing, is expected to be about 160km. Better Place is setting up a network of charging and battery swap stations across Israel, with other locations, such as Denmark, San Francisco and Australia, to follow.

In an interview last month, Better Place founder and CEO Shai Agassi said that the company plans to test its components, such as battery swapping and car charging stations, this year in anticipation of a market roll-out in 2011.