Battery-Exchange System and Service Station

An electric-vehicle service station comprising:

• a vehicle lift having a platform and a plurality of motorized lifts that raise and lower the platform, the platform having an adjustable length, measured with respect to a first axis, to support electric vehicles of different sizes, the platform having a service hole to expose an underside of the electric vehicle;
• an upwardly sloped on-ramp disposed between ground level and the platform;
• a downwardly sloped off-ramp disposed between the platform and ground level;
• tracks that pass below the platform and into a service cavity defined by the vehicle lift when the platform is in a raised position, the tracks extending along a second axis that is orthogonal to the first axis, the first and second axes orthogonal to a vertical axis along which the platform is raised and lowered;
• a battery-storage apparatus, the tracks extending to the battery storage apparatus;
• and
• a battery-exchange robot mounted on the tracks, the battery-exchange robot configured to:
• receive one or more depleted batteries from the underside of the electric vehicle and transport the one or more depleted batteries to the battery-storage apparatus to be charged, and
• receive one or more charged batteries from the battery-storage apparatus and transport the one or more charged batteries to the underside of the electric vehicle.

An electric-vehicle service station comprising:

• a first vehicle lift having a first platform and first motorized lifts that raise and lower the first platform, the first platform having a first service hole to expose an underside of a first electric vehicle;
• a second vehicle lift having a second platform and second motorized lifts that raise and lower the second platform, the second platform having a second service hole to expose an underside of a second electric vehicle, the first and second platforms having respective lengths measured with respect to a first axis;
• tracks that pass below the first and second platforms and into first and second service cavities defined by the first and second vehicle lifts, respectively, when the first and second platforms are in raised positions, the tracks extending along a second axis that is orthogonal to the first axis, the first and second axes orthogonal to a vertical axis with respect to which the first and second platforms are raised and lowered;
• a battery-storage apparatus between the first and second lifts, the tracks passing through a channel defined in the battery storage apparatus;
• and
• a battery-exchange robot mounted on the tracks, the battery-exchange robot configured to:
• receive one or more first depleted batteries from the underside of the first electric vehicle and transport the one or more first depleted batteries to the battery-storage apparatus,
• receive one or more second depleted batteries from the underside of the second electric vehicle and transport the one or more second depleted batteries to the battery-storage apparatus, and
• receive one or more charged batteries from the battery-storage apparatus and transport the one or more charged batteries to the underside of the first or second electric vehicle.