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Comment by pyaamb | Hacker News Reader

This brings up a newbie question that Ive been wondering about for a while - Is it feasible to design an EV platform that can be upgraded to other battery chemistries? The idea of purchasing an EV that a few years down the line can be upgraded to the latest battery tech with a Software update to the BMS is very exciting!

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> Is it feasible to design an EV platform that can be upgraded to other battery chemistries?

Yes. Nio's cars can both charge and swap the battery. They can swap between 75 kWh, 100 kWh, and 150 kWh packs, all of which have the same physical dimensions. The 150 kWh pack is a new semi-solid state battery chemistry and only adds an extra 20 kilos of weight versus the 100 kWh pack:

https://carnewschina.com/2023/12/17/nio-et7-with-150-kwh-sem...

The BMS is usually part of the battery assembly, so swapping batteries (to a different chemistry, or not) would generally involve swapping to an appropriate BMS. If the battery voltage is close enough to the design voltage (so no going from a 400 V system to a 900 V system without also changing out inverters, etc), and if the new BMS provides any necessary interfaces, why not?

Nio has some battery swap models that let you drive into a bay and it swaps the battery out for you in 5min or so.

That design is likely the only one that would really work with a "change the battery chemistry" option. All other electronic vehicles seem to use the battery ad the base of the car in a sled design, so updating the battery would be a 10k kind of affair, if possible.

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