Tesla battery swap: Post announcement discussion

[wraithnot]

Any news on further rollout or has Tesla officially killed the idea?

I've heard absolutely nothing about any plans to build additional swap stations, but I used the existing battery swap station at Harris Ranch four times last year and the manager of the swap station (Mark Brooks) confirmed today that we should be able to use the swap station again for our upcoming road trip in June. One of the battery swaps we did last year was on December 19th and about five minutes after our swap was done, another Model S arrived for a battery swap. So we're not the only ones using it.

Once Tesla finishes building superchargers along the lengths of interstate 80 and interstate 10, I hope they build some more battery swap stations. But I'd much rather see the swap stations located in urban areas (perhaps next to Tesla service centers) than at places like Harris Ranch. My main use of the swap station at the moment is to borrow a newer battery with a bit more capacity than the one in my car for road trips that venture far from the nearest supercharger. Stopping by the local service center for five minutes the day before the trip would be more convenient than scheduling the trip so that it hits Harris ranch during the hours when the swap station is open. Urban battery swap stations would also be fantastic for people that live in apartments or condos without any convenient way to charge their cars overnight.

 

[Fiver]

Driving by Harris Ranch last week I saw zero indication the battery swap station is still open. The place looked shut down.

 

[jerry33]

Virtually, the only reason for a battery swap is taxi-type use where the vehicle is operated 24 hours. Otherwise it was $60 twice (once to do the swap and once to get your original battery back IIRC--I might not, it's been awhile). There would have to be a lot of Tesla taxis in the the area to justify a swap station.

 

[Larry Chanin]

Virtually, the only reason for a battery swap is taxi-type use where the vehicle is operated 24 hours. Otherwise it was $60 twice (once to do the swap and once to get your original battery back IIRC--I might not, it's been awhile). There would have to be a lot of Tesla taxis in the the area to justify a swap station.

Hi Jerry,

It all depends on how well Tesla rolls out Supercharging Stations. So far I think that they've accelerated the pace of roll-out, and so long as they stay ahead of Model 3 production, chances are that Battery Swapping won't be popular except for the commercial applications that you mentioned. However, should it ever get to the point where Supercharger lines are deep for extended periods, then many owners would pay the price to "jump the line" to justify implementing Battery Swapping at those Supercharging Stations that are frequently congested.

Larry

 

[JRP3]

They didn't build the Model 3 to allow fast swapping so I think we can conclude the idea is dead, at least for passenger vehicles.

 

[Larry Chanin]

They didn't build the Model 3 to allow fast swapping so I think we can conclude the idea is dead, at least for passenger vehicles.

Excellent point and you're probably correct, but the Battery Swapping concept may not be completely dead. It's still possible that Tesla may regard Battery Swapping as a premium service that they could offer to Model S & X owners when they are stuck behind rows of Model 3s. Nevertheless your point is well taken and the possibility of Battery Swapping would certainly be a lot more justifiable if the Model 3 was designed to support swapping.

Larry

 

[doug]

Resurrecting this thread only because I'm about to unstick it.

 

[mspohr]

Resurrecting this thread only because I'm about to unstick it.

I guess the idea didn't stick.

 

[doug]

I guess the idea didn't stick.

I was there in 2009 when Elon unveiled the Model S at SpaceX in Hawthorne. Battery swapping was promised back then, but it felt like part of the kitchen sink approach Tesla was taking with the Model S. (E.g., more storage than an SUV, seating for 7, etc.). But then we heard nothing of it until the rules for the ZEV credits changed to include "fast refueling" (which favored hydrogen vehicles). I'm pretty sure at that point Tesla was already convinced that steady improvements on charging rates was the way to go, and only demonstrated battery swaps to get the ZEV credits.

 

[miimura]

Then CARB changed the "Fast Refueling" rules so that a significant percentage of cars would need to use swapping in order to get the credit, so they gave up on trying to collect the extra credits. They have a surplus of CARB credits and have to sell them at relatively low prices, so there's no point in spending money to get more credits per vehicle.