grid buffer for areas with high electricity cost difference between day/night and/or night buffer for Solar canopys when those are added to superchargers would be my first choice. I'm just assuming they would wash them through solar city for mass processing / cross branding advertising purposes.
Who says it is going to be a D pack? My understanding was that they were going to swap a fully charged battery, take yours, charge it, and wait for your return to reclaim your original. If they swap you an A pack that they got from someone upgrading, you will for sure bring it back and take your original battery back. Since all you wanted was a 90 second charge, you got it. Sounds like that would work perfectly. For all the people who are so concerned about a five minute difference in charging, and all those who only charge a couple times a year, this concern over an A pack is interesting. Hopefully they won't be the ones irritated because they got an A pack when they got a battery swap. As in s-w-a-p, not as in new pack. As in exchange, not buy.
I wrote it partly tongue in cheek, but what happens if I don't return for my original pack? The only way they can force me to do so is by making it financially burdensome. So, if the burden isn't too high, I simply drive away with my new pack, pay the cost, and everything is good. If the swap another 'A' pack then it won't work of course
More information in this article: First Tesla Battery Swap Station Online Soon | CleanTechnica Looks like there will be a charge for battery swap. You have the option of returning to get your original battery back or paying the difference in price for a presumably newer battery.
The charge was stated to be equivalent to a tank of fuel. Range/efficiency. ~15 gallons? $50 in US, $100 in EU.
need photos from people passing thru Harris Ranch. That's where the swap station was rumored to be. At the decommissioned car wash on site.
Let me guess. The battery trade-in value will be reduced by $500/month used + $1 for each kwh the battery has been charged. :biggrin:
How does that translate to folks who have refurbed packs with significantly more miles on them than their original pack?
This is just speculation but I believe that Tesla should have some way of determining the real condition and capacity of a battery pack. It could base the exchange cost on the capacity of the "loaner" vs the capacity of the one you left behind. I know that most owners constantly monitor and care for their battery packs to ensure maximum life. There should be a reward for this good behavior. We'll just have to wait for the details to emerge. If battery exchanges become common and there is a fair way to account for use/abuse of the battery, it could eliminate one big fear which is the cost of a battery replacement. You could regularly refresh your battery with a new/refurbished/used battery with more (or less) capacity and pay/gain fair compensation incrementally rather than one big hit.
Will be interesting to see Tesla's scan/analysis of your existing battery, possibly lots you don't presently know. --
Sigs and early productions be advised. A post over in the Harris Ranch thread implied our packs might not be swap compatible: Can anyone confirm?
Just stopped by the battery swap location at Harris Ranch and talked to the "attendant"... 1. Beta testing is ongoing and will be for several months. After beta testing the mass trial will begin. Beta testing is to work the kinks/processes out. Mass trial is to evaluate the feasibility of widespread implementation. 2. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, only 85kWh packs eligible. 3. Still expected to be the price of a tank of gas ($60-100). 4. This price includes two swaps (outbound and return leg). 5. Don't expect a one time swap (ex. Battery upgrade or return route doesn't pass through swap location) 6. You WILL get YOUR battery back (This is huge to them. The batteries belongs to the swap location just like yours belongs to you.) 7. Initially will be open during normal business hours (9-5ish) during beta testing, hopefully open 24/7 when fully operational. 8. Appointment system based on when you will be passing through (out and back). 9. Attendant will drive car through swap. There will be no car's falling in the hole...and if it did, the battery lift below is able to lift the car back up. 10. While waiting, there will be a waiting area where you can watch the process and grab a refreshment. 11. Attendant can help with supercharger issues if necessary. Note 1. Maximum time between swaps is not specified yet. Expect no more than a couple weeks.
cool, thanks for the info! I swear though, I thought the whole point was that you didn't have to get out of the car, it was supposed to be faster than filling up a tank of gas......
Sure, but I think they can safely hide behind the "beta" label for now. My other thoughts on it though... I am assuming the 85KWh exclusivity is just because they're keeping it simple under the hood while they iron out the kinks and make sure it works reliably. But this is one way I was hoping Tesla would offer different battery sizes for different amounts of money, and use swap stations to seed the market with new sizes. (you would buy them right there and then inside the swap station, and upgrade your car in 1.5 minutes, basically) So I look forward to seeing 40KWh and 60KWh batteries getting swapped as well. I was fond of the idea that via your first ever battery swap, you would basically elect to surrender your battery into the "system" and never get it back... simply living off of other batteries from that point onwards. (Said batteries being warrantied for use by Tesla of course) Perhaps they have seen too much physical wear and tear on existing cars to support this system as there would be too many people dumping their damaged batteries into the swap system as a method to get a better one. Otherwise, the "free or fast" isn't really held up by this restriction. As of now it's going to be "free or fast, as long as you don't mind coming back to this exact location within two weeks." One of the things we probably like about ICE cars is that they are always ready for immediate deployment on any trip, any time - you can decide to drive across the country and just do it immediately, if you want. Having to bring your car back to a certain spot before a certain date doesn't strike me as liberating. I was under the impression (and this came mostly from info out of Tesla Motors) that the titanium shield parts did not cover the battery, they were in actually front of it, thus not impeding battery swap at all. Recently however, it was confirmed that (whether this is the case or not) those parts need to be removed in order to do the battery swap, then replaced afterwards, preventing it from ever being as speedy as it was during Elon's 2013 demo. Has the Model X been redesigned to avoid this extra time delay? Time will tell, no pun untended. The development of this is certainly going as slow as molasses. Sort of the same speed as the SDK. Attendant needs to drive your car in? Where is the software update that charges your account directly? Shouldn't we all see that deployed to our cars already? Makes we wonder if they are really trying to make it work, or if it will ever happen. By that I mean extensive deployment of automated battery swap stations all over the place, so that you don't need to drive a long distance to use it. We seem a long way from that situation. Sorry for the doom & gloom :|