Sigs not compatible with battery swap

[Zextraterrestrial]

Walla, I get what you're saying and sympathize. But I don't understand how people can say that battery swap was an expected feature. That's why I pulled the dates for different events. All the rest of what you posted is worthy of discussion (and certainly has been discussed at least a few times ). I was responding to the OP's assertion that ability to battery swap at a station was an advertised feature. I don't remember it that way, so I went and pulled dates...

pretty sure that in 2011 the 'battery swap in 5 minutes' was listed as a feature
fast charge was also.
will look for my advertisement postcard to back this up

 

[bonnie]

pretty sure that in 2011 the 'battery swap in 5 minutes' was listed as a feature
fast charge was also.
will look for my advertisement postcard to back this up

I remember that 'fast charge' was a feature - but not the whole concept of the free Supercharger network, nor any listed specs for what 'fast charge' meant. People went nuts after the Supercharger announcement, it was totally unexpected.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I remember that 'fast charge' was a feature - but not the whole concept of the free Supercharger network, nor any listed specs for what 'fast charge' meant. People went nuts after the Supercharger announcement, it was totally unexpected.

no, superchargers were not listed but the battery swap was and 'fast charge' too. Battery swap was my point.
I kind of remember 45 min fast charge but will check my reference when I get home

 

[Cyclone]

It would be very interesting to know the engineering reasons behind Tesla's demurral on battery swaps for early VINs. I know some early Sigs have received B packs when their A packs failed (usually due to the contactors opening) in the days before SCs were equipped and trained to open and repair packs locally, so I suspect it's not a mechanical mounting incompatibility.

I recall reading in one of the threads around here that work to replace the contactors can now be done at the service centers ("in the field") rather than shipping the battery back to Freemont and then shipped back to the user -- except for Signature batteries that are different enough that they still require being sent back to Freemont. I would imagine the differences that prevent these from being field serviced contribute to them being ineligible for the battery swap station beta program.

 

[bonnie]

no, superchargers were not listed but the battery swap was and 'fast charge' too. Battery swap was my point.
I kind of remember 45 min fast charge but will check my reference when I get home

fyi (and totally ot) thanks for the lime trees!

 

[dsm363]

no, superchargers were not listed but the battery swap was and 'fast charge' too. Battery swap was my point.
I kind of remember 45 min fast charge but will check my reference when I get home

Thanks. I couldn't find the page on the internet archive that talked about the battery swap

 

[brianman]

I want to say they are very privileged minority who are driving in Model S for third year already while others are still only wishing for such a dream machine.

Counterproductive. Using this argument, no Tesla owner/driver should ever complain about anything ever.

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Using this argument, no Tesla owner/driver should ever complain about anything ever.

Well... I do find that since getting the S85 (that's right, no frills, no leather, no Insanity) friends and family look at me reeeal funny when I try to keep to a budget. So that's not too far-fetched to me.

 

[Max*]

Well... I do find that since getting the S85 (that's right, no frills, no leather, no Insanity) friends and family look at me reeeal funny when I try to keep to a budget. So that's not too far-fetched to me.

OK, so I'm not alone in this!

 

[TexasEV]

Signature owners were the first ones to experience driving a Model S. At the time of delivery it was the best EV ever, by far. Those cars (and their owners) were the talk of the town. That's what they got for paying the "sig tax". Surely such early adopters of a tech product would understand that later versions would have improvements that may not all be backwards compatible. The first iPhone was an amazing product at the time, but remember it couldn't run the third party apps that were developed for iPhone 3G a year later. We're just not used to cars improving at that rate.

 

[ChadS]

no, superchargers were not listed but the battery swap was and 'fast charge' too. Battery swap was my point.
I kind of remember 45 min fast charge but will check my reference when I get home

You are correct about the 45-minute fast charge, zext.

I am positive because I already had two EVs I liked, including a long-range Tesla. The Model S was bigger and more expensive than I wanted. The only reason I was interested was those promised 45-minute charges.

Other than listing them with specs early on, it is true they did not make a big deal of them until the big 2012 announcement. Confirming my Sig order in July 2012 was VERY tough for me because I did not have details. While nobody (including GeorgeB) would spill any beans, I did finally get an employee in the know to say I would be happy with my purchase after I explained I would not be happy unless they provided fast charging somehow. So I trusted that statement and confirmed my order.

They had mentioned swapping too, but I think we had a discussion here about them dropping it from their specs early on. I always figured that one would take many years to pencil out so I never asked about it.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

here you all go-
my memory isn't too bad :?

not knowing anything else, It was the 5 min swap that sounded really sweet
early Sigs would have only really seen this piece of advertisement early on. Being excluded from swapping is a pretty big deal (potentially)
I think it was probably know in 2010-11 what they were planning on doing regarding the charge setup with stacked inverters - supercharging is pretty much implied here 45 min ...480V charging, who has that available?

I am not sure how I went from thinking I'd maybe get this price to work up to actually buying a P85. 5.6s sounded really fast to me too!

 

[dsm363]

Good find. It sounds like they dropped talking about that before any of us confirmed our orders though. Me too on the P85.

 

[Andrew Wolfe]

Good find. It sounds like they dropped talking about that before any of us confirmed our orders though. Me too on the P85.

Along with the $49,900 and the deliveries begin in 2011

 

[AmpedRealtor]

They also changed the interior and the exterior body style, so the text about battery swap wasn't the only thing on that card that didn't come true.

 

[NigelM]

Make a fuss about promises made at the time of order confirmation, not a year before or a year after. My Sig is close to the OP's VIN, if there's to be a fuss about say 'on-board music storage' I'll have more sympathy but I checked through my paperwork and there's nothing about battery swapping.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Along with the $49,900 and the deliveries begin in 2011

$49,900 was the 40Kwhr after incentives
2011...ya

- - - Updated - - -

Make a fuss about promises made at the time of order confirmation, not a year before or a year after. My Sig is close to the OP's VIN, if there's to be a fuss about say 'on-board music storage' I'll have more sympathy but I checked through my paperwork and there's nothing about battery swapping.

no, and I did see the on board music storage in my paperwork when I found this card, I know that was a biggie to many.

but how about if it had a gas engine? that would be ok based on this card being before production. (being almost silly here)
it says PURE electric? also a battery swap in 5 minutes. I'd expect all of these to be true
- - - Updated - - -

They also changed the interior and the exterior body style, so the text about battery swap wasn't the only thing on that card that didn't come true.

2011 is the only thing I see that didn't come true
exterior is pretty much the same. interior is just 'trim' changes

 

[NigelM]

but how about if it had a gas engine? that would be ok based on this card being before production. (being almost silly here)
it says PURE electric? also a battery swap in 5 minutes. I'd expect all of these to be true

My order confirmed an all electric car, if it had come with a gas engine I think I'd probably not have accepted delivery!

The concept changed along the way (both before launch and since) but each us bought what we confirmed and Tesla (mostly) delivered that.

 

[Owner]

Not at all. Its actually hard to get a reservation to have your battery swapped!

I have a B battery and swapped a few weeks ago, but had to fit my schedule into theirs.

here's a full report Battery Swap | TESLA OWNER

I suspect the demand is low because there's not real need for a swap station.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

2011 is the only thing I see that didn't come true
exterior is pretty much the same. interior is just 'trim' changes

The exterior shots are of the alpha car, the current design has changed visibly. The interior is a complete 180 from what's pictured on that card. What's pictured on that card is a Mercedes-level trim. What actually shipped was not.