battery swapping confirmed - no more "mystery" announcement

[yobigd20]

finally we can kill all the speculation threads. Elon tweeted last night that they'll be a demo of battery swapping thursday night.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/346895679471357952

Tesla's 'Faster Than You Could Fill A Gas Tank' Recharge Is Battery Swapping After All - Forbes

 

[Mayhemm]

Man, Elon cannot keep a secret.

First he outs the supercharger upgrades at (I think) the D11 conference, now this.

His media team must hate him.

 

[highfalutintodd]

Man, Elon cannot keep a secret.

First he outs the supercharger upgrades at (I think) the D11 conference, now this.

His media team must hate him.

I was just thinking the same thing. The company is so apple-like in so many other ways that it always surprises me when he does things like this. It's like he desperately wants to do announcements in an apple / Steve Jobs style but just can't make it all the way to the finish line (after getting the build-up spot on). Oh, well.

On a side note, I have to admit that I'm honestly surprised that this is really turning out to be about pack swapping. Given the supercharger build out I'll be very interested to hear what the rationale is for this. Or, more to the point, the strategy if its anything other than a glorified tech demo.

 

[zax123]

His tweet may also be strategic... to build up excitement/awareness and perhaps even affect the stock price before the big demonstration...

 

[Cosmacelf]

Hmmm, I wonder if this has more to do with proving the longevity of the car - see after 10 years, it is a simple matter of batt swap. Along with finally pricing for pre paid battery pack replacement.

 

[deonb]

And let the comparisons with Better Place begin:

http://gigaom.com/2013/06/18/elon-musk-tesla-to-demo-battery-swap-tech-on-thursday-night/

 

[NigelM]

Hmmm, I wonder if this has more to do with proving the longevity of the car - see after 10 years, it is a simple matter of batt swap. Along with finally pricing for pre paid battery pack replacement.

From an investor perspective, I like this better.

 

[deonb]

Hmmm, I wonder if this has more to do with proving the longevity of the car - see after 10 years, it is a simple matter of batt swap. Along with finally pricing for pre paid battery pack replacement.

No, the primary purpose of the battery swap is for charging:

 

[JerryNycom]

I feel a little violated!

 

[Raffy.Roma]

I would like battery swapping as a charging way done mainly at home not in a public place. I wouldn't like my battery being shared with other people. Just my opinion.

 

[deonb]

I would like battery swapping as a charging way done mainly at home not in a public place. Just my opinion.

Elaborate? Why would you need battery swapping at home?

 

[jandkw]

This is good for Tesla and EV future particularly for those who are concerned about EV traveling long distance. If I travel from home in North Carolina to visit my brother in Houston using my S60, I have to make 8 stops, 20-30 minutes each, using the superchargers when happened. This is a little annoying. With the swapping technology, I can reduce the wait time to the minimum. Looking forward, if the battery technology improves to say, 120KW or 150KW, I can swap to bigger battery pack and drive my MS like the ICE car when travel long distance. This is a great solution to me.

 

[deonb]

drive my MS like the ICE car when travel long distance

In your ICE car, do you really make that 1200 mile trip without any stops (either to eat or to sleep)?

 

[FredTMC]

This is good for Tesla and EV future particularly for those who are concerned about EV traveling long distance. If I travel from home in North Carolina to visit my brother in Houston using my S60, I have to make 8 stops, 20-30 minutes each, using the superchargers when happened. This is a little annoying. With the swapping technology, I can reduce the wait time to the minimum. Looking forward, if the battery technology improves to say, 120KW or 150KW, I can swap to bigger battery pack and drive my MS like the ICE car when travel long distance. This is a great solution to me.

+1. Right with you! Same post as mine. I think this is very appealing to many owners!

Someone please start an 'owners only' poll on "would you ever rent a swap battery for a long trip (at a reasonable price)?
I think the result is that a decent percentage of owners would do this on occasion.

 

[Miggs]

This is great news.

Many people will be comparing with Better Place, and saying they failed and Tesla may also fail. I would prefer to think of it this way - the GM EV-1 never had a swappable battery. Swapping batteries is going to be an important part of driving electric cars, and Better Place had the right idea. Tesla are honoring that great idea and following in their footsteps. The differences are that the car is desirable and people actually want to be in one. (wasn't the case with those Renaults that Better Place was using) Tesla will make it work... and Better Place will be vindicated as a pioneer that just couldn't make it work from a business standpoint.

 

[jerry33]

This is horrible news, unless there is something about battery swapping I don't understand (maybe the announcement will dispel my fears--I sure hope so, but I don't see how it can right now). The Supercharger rollout is agonizingly slow but it's likely to be 100 or 1000 times faster than swapping stations.

 

[deonb]

Man, Elon cannot keep a secret.

First he outs the supercharger upgrades at (I think) the D11 conference, now this.

His media team must hate him.

I wonder if he was effectively forced to. The 'battswap-hero' filename was all over the stock tweets. This must have concerned Tesla as well seeing that they took down that file since.

Or maybe Elon is throwing a bone to TMC. Drive the share price lower so that more people can get in before the real announcement on Thursday .

 

[efusco]

This is horrible news, unless there is something about battery swapping I don't understand (maybe the announcement will dispel my fears--I sure hope so, but I don't see how it can right now). The Supercharger rollout is agonizingly slow but it's likely to be 100 or 1000 times faster than swapping stations.

I'm with you, didn't make sense when Better Place was promoting it, doesn't make sense now. Not that there won't be individuals who can take advantage of it at times, but the logistics of a system like this, the expense and time involved, the issues of battery ownership, etc. are all very complex.

Focus on supercharging...money and time much better spent. Bridge with HPWCs in other places.

 

[mitch672]

I wonder if he was effectively forced to. The 'battswap-hero' filename was all over the stock tweets. This must have concerned Tesla as well seeing that they took down that file since.

Or maybe Elon is throwing a bone to TMC. Drive the share price lower so that more people can get in before the real announcement on Thursday .

As CEO, intentional manipulation of the stock would get him many fines from the SEC.

No, it's absolutely battery swapping. However, we don't know the "usage" cases or rollout, or finances.
It could be initially intended for large fleets. Tesla received an order for 100 Model S's a few months back, I wouldn't be surprised if this swapping is just for that one customer, initially.

Amazing how many people just go "off" on an announcement, when the devil is in the details.

 

[jomo25]

Can't say I'm a huge fan of this either. BUT some thoughts:
- that it can be done is a great thing. Whether useful now or I future, it presents options.
- I'd like to hear/see the use cases before final judgment.
- that Better Place failed, so? coda, Fisker, etc failed, but Tesla has beaten those odds. So it doesn'tt mean this will fail too.
- I like Superchargers, but this can be rolled out more quickly. SCs require permits, space, installation, coordination with utilities, etc. This just requires retail/service space (and service people and equipment)