A new twist on battery swapping

[hobbes]

Just ask Shai Agassi and his investors in Better Place about how tough making battery swapping economics is. I think you've got the truth of the matter here, @austinEV.

Does kind of depend on how many EVs there are that are as potential customers though... The economics didn´t work out for Better Place, maybe not now, but in a few years with the high adoption we all hope for that might be different.

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Wow, count me out for that $70,000 battery.

Hypothetical: In 2018 you buy a Model S version 2.0 with a 100 kWh battery for $70000.

Includes a car .

 

[austinEV]

Includes a car .

I thought he was making some point about that last 15kwH being really prohibitively expensive

 

[Johan]

I thought he was making some point about that last 15kwH being really prohibitively expensive

I need to work on my hypothetical situations writing skills, apparently.

But you get it now, right? Rapid improvements in tech and/or prices may make it very hard to resist frequent updating/trading up of batteries in the future.

 

[austinEV]

I need to work on my hypothetical situations writing skills, apparently.

But you get it now, right? Rapid improvements in tech and/or prices may make it very hard to resist frequent updating/trading up of batteries in the future.

Yes, just hasty reading I hope that parts of the car can be upgraded for sure. Along with the batteries, I wish they had made the computer a replaceable module. Think about it. The car is using an Ipad on wheels analogy. Maybe my car had a 1.1 computer. New cars could be shipping with a 1.4. Soon maybe they do a whole 2.0 with a faster processor and more memory that allows more responsive controls, a functional browser, video playback in park, etc. The actual *interface* to the computer could have been standardized. LCD interface, CAN buses, USB, Camera. They could have modulized it and allowed upgrading. Think about THAT. You buy a car tomorrow that has the sensors in it (my car has no hope since it is pre-sensor) and plan on updating battery and also the computer to take advantage of both battery advancement and computing power advances.

Ok, sorry to hijack your thread !!

 

[richkae]

I've had my Roadster for almost 6 years, don't need a swap. I would consider it if there was an upgrade. If the upgrade was only 20% more capacity than new I wouldn't bother.
The only reason I would consider swapping my battery would be to make driving at the racetrack more enjoyable, but I probably need a motor cooling upgrade as well, or it doesn't really help a lot.

I've had the Model S for 2.5 years, don't need a swap. If there was an upgrade available the price/performance had better be great, or I won't even consider it.

So I would definitely bring your average down. 8+ years of ownership, no desire to swap.

 

[StapleGun]

I love the idea of 50,000 Model S owners lining up in 2017 to trade in for a 110kwh battery, and then repackaging the used cells for home storage. If it's a 5-minute automated process all the better! I think there is a huge opportunity there from Tesla and the margins would be great. I am curious though, Would a larger battery need a larger inverter? Are there any other parts of the car that would need to be replaced too? I havent heard anything yet on whether they plan to allow 60's to swap for an 85 in the pilot station.

 

[Johan]

I am curious though, Would a larger battery need a larger inverter? Are there any other parts of the car that would need to be replaced too?

Only if that larger battery was to supply an even larger peak current, for even higher performance. Otherwise no. Think of the battery as a fuel container and the inverter as the carburator. If you enlarged the fuel container you wouldn't need a larger carburator as long as you keep the same motor, right? It would just provide more range. And if the battery is lighter performance would increase due to less weight.

I havent heard anything yet on whether they plan to allow 60's to swap for an 85 in the pilot station.

No-one knows the definitive answer to this yet, but it has been hinted several times that it would be possible.