It already doesn’t happen.

• while there have been fires and they do burn hot and self oxidize, it’s more rare than for ICE cars and usually caused by physical damage.
• my EV battery is warranted for 8 years, 100k miles, and some are higher
• my Tesla battery could be replaced for $15k, and it’s been decreasing over time, so half what you fear
• batteries usually don’t just die: end of life is usually set at 70% health, meaning you can keep using it with reduced range

Swappable batteries can’t be a stop gap because it would require a huge infrastructure buildout over many years that would become a lost investment, versus technology that’s already here and improving every year. Starting from scratch with swap stations, vehicle design, industry standards, vs hundreds of thousands of charging stations already deployed.

If you think chargers aren’t available enough or expanding enough, consider that they’re known technology, relatively cheap, installable by any electrician, using a national power infrastructure that already exists. Installing a level 2 charger at my house was equivalent to a new stove circuit. I mean I agree we need to speed up the buildout, but think how cheap and easy these are compared to developing an entire new infrastructure from scratch. How simple a ”plug” is compared to a robot that can handle a one ton battery. How long it took to standardize an effing plug, compared to standardizing entire battery packs. How can anyone think this would go faster?