Tesla Confirms Battery Swap For Model S
Published: June 18th, 2013
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Tesla’s long-rumored battery swap technology will get its first reveal Thursday night, according to a Tweet from Elon Musk himself.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Meh. Wake me when they have ACC and lane keeping assist like they should have had at launch for an 80k car.
I used to daydream about this technology as a kid. The more you think about it, the more it makes sense. I'd say it's safe to assume the battery swap could be made to be entirely automated - and safe. What I envision down the road is an optional leasing program available to electric car owners where you are entitled to any battery in a given network. An amount of swaps or quick charges per month may be included in the fee. There would be different billing plans depending on network usage - similar to cell phone plans. And as mentioned by other commentors, the service life of the batteries would be factored into the monthly costs. The beauty of this plan is that the majority of drivers in urban environments would not need daily or even weekly access to these services. Battery swapping stations would only have to be placed mainly on freeways and major thoroughfares to service the long distance travelers. With quick charging technology advancing as it is, inventory levels of charged batteries needn't even be that high. If a battery can be turned around in 45 minutes, it would be possible to service a significant number of cars within a relatively small footprint. Additionally,taxis, delivery services and even small truck operators could explore bulk leases and take advantage of a couple strategically placed swapping stations specifically for their usage. It's incredible to think about but even more incredible to see the infrastructure slowly inching towards this reality.
I'm pretty skeptical about the battery swap idea being viable. While I think it's better to have the option, it just seems like a lot of effort, hassle, and inventory to keep extra battery packs around (especially charged battery packs). At best, it's a temporary solution to a current problem: smallish capacity of batteries and slow charging rates. As both increase, swaps will be far less attractive.
How much do these batteries cost? How much inventory of fully charged batteries will the battery swap facilities be keeping in stock? How much will the swap fee be and how are the facilities going to make their money?