Tesla To Launch EV Battery Swap Network

Edmunds.com

Tesla To Launch EV Battery Swap Network

Tesla Motors says it will offer owners of its electric cars the ability to swap depleted batteries for fresh ones at a network of battery exchange stations. The process will be faster than filling a conventional vehicle's gas tank.

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shatner

Amazing technology, but that is one complicated fill-up!
I don't see how they can ever recoup their costs though, sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

soakee_

I'm confused - why does the article refer to Tesla as "Electric car pioneer Tesla Motors" when the pioneer of electric cars was Baker Motor Vehicle Company way back in the early 20th century? Edmunds, check your facts.

greenpony

"Musk said Thursday that Agassi "got the idea for Better Place" while visiting Tesla"... Really? Because I've been swapping batteries as long as I've been alive, in things like radios, remote controls, cameras... That concept MUST have come from Tesla!

jodell

Greenpony: Didn't say Agassi got the idea for battery swapping - just for Better Place.
To be completely accurate, Musk did in fact acknowledge that swapping batteries "isn't a novel concept" because it's done every day in kids' toys, etc. etc.

Soakee: Will "Modern-day electric car pioneer" make things better?

texases

This is nuts. We already had a company flush a billion dollars of invertor money down the drain on the same idea, before declaring bankruptcy. A Tesla battery costs what, $30,000? How will there be enough cars to make this worthwhile? And who's responsible if I swap out, or in, a dead/bad battery pack?

I fear for my taxpayer wallet on this one...

jeffinoh

I just got home from putting 15 gallons of gas in my Cadillac Deville. It gets me more than 300 miles of combined driving. To swap a Tesla battery and re-swap it costs twice as much? Advantage gasoline.