Looking at my phone and macbook with built-in batteries, I realize a car with a swappable battery is not something we can achieve as humanity.
Cars should be a different story but we'll have to fight for that even.
Battery packs are structural components for safety reasons more than anything. Weight and volume savings are secondary to safety in regards to anything with high energy density, be it a battery pack, fuel cell, or gas tank.
But though they _contain_ batteries, a battery pack is not a battery any more than a car is an engine. The battery inside the battery pack remains non-structural and non-load-bearing.
The individual cylinders are made from steel. The steel is used structurally. Perhaps next you'll tell me the "battery" is actually just the anode, cathode and electrolyte?
Thank you.
> Perhaps next you'll tell me the "battery" is actually just the anode, cathode and electrolyte?
No, next I'll tell you that this isn't Reddit and you don't have to be a dick to "win an argument on the internet". On HN you can simply point out the facts, like you did above.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas...
That doesn't mean it wouldn't work today, but probably a harder problem than it looks.