Hw1 to Hw2 "transplant"

[fasteddie7]

Elon has said in several occasions that outfitting Hw1 cars with Hw2 hardware would be like spinal transplant surgery and be costly and near impossible. I remember a while back it was discussed that the car could be separated from the battery for a "battery swap" for a fully charged battery and you were in your way. I assume battery makes up a major portion of the cost in a new vehicle, so what if a hw2 vehicle shell was transplanted on your current hw1 vehicles battery for a cost. Then the hw1 could be put on a new battery and sold cpo with a brand spanking new battery. Unrealistic? Or just crazy enough to work?

 

[croman]

The cost of a new battery for the cpo car would make this more than a simple trade in. What is wrong with a trade in if you want hw2?

 

[number12]

Trading in delta is always your ceiling.

The spinal transplant you are describing has to cost more than that. (Factoring in you would still have an older battery)

 

[fasteddie7]

The cost of a new battery for the cpo car would make this more than a simple trade in. What is wrong with a trade in if you want hw2?

For someone like me who bought their vehicle days before Hw2 was announced, trade in is a heavy loss at this point as the vehicle is seven months old.

 

[Saghost]

Tesla guidance has been that the battery is about a quarter of the cost of the car. VINs stay with the "shell" as you put it.

What you're describing is a car trade-in swap - with some sort of a credit to you for accepting a new car with a used battery, and then Tesla attempting to justify a higher price for a used car based on it having a brand new battery.

 

[TexLaw]

Basically, you are just trying to discount a trade-in through some sort of BYOB (Bring Your Own Battery) scheme. In other words, you want to swap everything but the battery. I don't see that working out at all.

First, the logistics on Tesla's end would be a costly nightmare. Second, the value that a fresh battery pack will add to a well-used HW1 car is not going to offset that cost. Third, they would have to consider how all this affects their warranty obligations. In the end, I expect that the only way Tesla could make sure they don't come out the loser on this is if they pretty much charged you what it would cost for you to just trade in for a new HW2 car. The only reason Tesla is in the CPO market is to give Tesla drivers some sort of comfort about the future of trading a car in for a new one, not to provide a Frankencar service.

I suppose that, if you already had another transplant partner lined up who is happy to take your HW1 "shell," Tesla might be willing to go along for the cost of the labor . . . maybe . . . but I don't see them touching it, otherwise.

All that assumes that the transplant could be done that cleanly in the first place.

 

[croman]

For someone like me who bought their vehicle days before Hw2 was announced, trade in is a heavy loss at this point as the vehicle is seven months old.

I can see this working only if Tesla makes additional money. I'm not sure the math works out that way. I think your trade in value likely is more than you think?

 

[Science fan]

Elon has said in several occasions that outfitting Hw1 cars with Hw2 hardware would be like spinal transplant surgery and be costly and near impossible. I remember a while back it was discussed that the car could be separated from the battery for a "battery swap" for a fully charged battery and you were in your way. I assume battery makes up a major portion of the cost in a new vehicle, so what if a hw2 vehicle shell was transplanted on your current hw1 vehicles battery for a cost. Then the hw1 could be put on a new battery and sold cpo with a brand spanking new battery. Unrealistic? Or just crazy enough to work?

I understand your "buyer's regret" over having received one of the last hw1s. My Model S was a few months short of hw2, but I am very pleased with it and don't really care to have the car drive itself, as hw2 cars will likely do in a few years. Hopefully, my MS will last another 11 years or so and have 225,000 miles on it when I buy a new Tesla. At that time, I will be 84 and will need all the automated driving help I can get. Can you imagine the technology that one will have? People who have hw2s will be so sad to have such outdated technology in 2028.

Why not just hold on to your MS for a number of years to blunt the effects of depreciation and then buy a new one that will put hw2 to shame? As of now, IMHO, hw2 has a long way to go to make it worthwhile to take the hit of prematurely selling an hw1 MS or MX.