So much for the “it can’t be done” mentality. Widespread acceptance would require more universal pack design and interfacing/mounting schemes. Who knows, faster charging batteries may kill this before it gets more widespread acceptance but I think it still has some merit with the idea you lease an expensive to replace pack versus own one…
This was trialed in Israel a few years ago. It did not succeed.
This would require carmakers on 3 or 4 continents to agree on a battery standard. Not likely to happen.
Electric forklift manufacturers agreed on standard battery sizes decades ago yet still use a few dozen different battery formats that are swapped out.
The concept definitely has merit. Going back to the late '40s, one of the proposed features of the Tucker automobile was the ability to have a dealer swap-in a new engine if your engine needed to be repaired. Of course, that idea died–along with the Tucker marque–but it is still an appealing concept.
However, as Mustangman mentioned, this would require standardization that doesn’t yet exist from one mfr to another. But… maybe in the future…
Just thought of another issue…
The battery packs used currently are structural within the car. That would be limited or impossible with a swappable battery. It make the cars heavier and reduces range.
Sort of the Apple iPhone integral battery compared to say, Samsung with a removeable battery. (my current Samsung phone does not have a removeable battery… seems Apple had that right)
Tesla promised this for years, gave up. If the EV leader doesn’t see a way forward, I’m doubtful it’s viable.
Do the EV manufactures even have a standard among themselves??
I mean go they have a small medium and large EV battery for any giving line up??
I thought I saw a picture then it disappeared in your post… lol
There’s no standard between makers. Every brand has different size, shape, often different cell type, and different models within a brand have different sizes. I see no move to standardize.
How they did it in the 40’s!
Pretty simple when you’re packaging up a bunch of inexpensive 6v or 12V lead acid batteries. They did this in 1889-1907 for battery-powered taxis in Manhattan. Much different now with large, expensive batteries meant for 200-400+ miles.
Here’s why they failed:
How A New York Taxi Company Killed The Electric Car In 1900 (jalopnik.com)
I’m skeptical that this could work until battery technology is more stable. Even within the Model 3 family, I wouldn’t want an older generation Model 3 battery in place of my newer LFP battery. Given the strong effort to move to solid state batteries, I suspect that the liquid electrolyte batteries will not be installed in new cars when battery swap stations become widespread. Good luck to someone that wants to invest in this. I won’t use it.
Well, a phone is obsolete in a couple years. If you kept one for 10 or twenty years, you can bet the batteries wouldn’t be buried inside, glued to the chassis 
There’s no reason the battery case cannot be structural. But again, it’s a different way of coming at the problem. If universal battery is not one of the design goals, then the engineers will think of lots of creative ways to leverage that assembly to benefit other aspects of the car.
This car company is doing it. Therefore, it can be done. There are lots of motivating factors as to why, or more importantly why not, others will follow suit.
Why bother? With 300 mile range becoming common it’s simpler just to charge instead of swap.
Cant see how this could even be implemented in any wide scale way . These batteries weigh anywhere from 1000 -2000 lbs . This would not be some 5 minute project . The only way this whole idea will work if they come up with a way to charge these things in 10 minutes or less without destroying or severely shortening the battery life . Even then I dont think they can come up with enough raw materials to support 300 million cars just here in the US which doesnt include truck , ships , airplanes and whatever else they plan on ram rodding this stuff into which wont make a bit of difference .