IF the intent of the battery swap is for you to return to that location on the return route to swap back, for those who take a different route and they ship the battery to your closes SC, is there an additional cost to that? Or would that so called $40.00 covers it all.
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cpa
Active Member
To me battery swapping makes some sense only along roads that get a lot of traffic between popular spots, like Los Angeles to the Bay Area along I5. I could see cases where a person travels for a long weekend and wants to save about an hour (round trip) and not charge at Harris Ranch. I could see a similar situation in, say Rocklin for traveling from the bay area to Reno/Tahoe to save time on a weekend trip.
But since battery swapping essentially forces us to take the same route both ways, I believe that it will not prove very popular, particularly if the locations are adjacent to Superchargers.
But since battery swapping essentially forces us to take the same route both ways, I believe that it will not prove very popular, particularly if the locations are adjacent to Superchargers.
That's exactly the use case for battery swap. People traveling between the Bay Area and LA mostly take the 5, and mostly just want to get to point B ASAP. Your Bay Area to Tahoe route is another perfect example, as is LA to Vegas. Battery swap only makes sense on PTP routes where one or two [at most] charges are required--call it something like 300-500 miles. Once you get past that distance other factors come into play and the time savings of swapping plays much less of a factor.
Battery swapping for fuel is of limited importance as a Tesla strategy.
The battery not being integral to the car is important for the long term. The point of a car battery should be maximum utility to achieve the highest economic value. Most Tesla EV batteries will decline as much from age as from use. Currently, in the early stage of EV, Tesla is making a major effort to minimize battery anxiety. (Battery anxiety is the mostly subconscious cousin of range anxiety).
In the future, Tesla may:
1) Lease batteries: The maximum use of the battery is in the lease term, and the terms are enforced by software. Most Tesla battery lessors would be able to use the battery additionally for home energy storage or grid services. Tesla Energy will sell distributed grid services, paying participating Tesla EV owners.
2) Rent Batteries: Like lease, but month by month. Trade up or down for a fee.
3) Rent for a trip: Like battery swap today, but with a big battery option. Probably a daily fee to encourage prompt returns.
It is a bit nuts to spend $40K on a battery and have little idea of the actual yearly cost. Tesla is positioning itself to address this major EV adoption issue with a removable battery. It works out great that Cali. pays for part of the effort.
With EV adoption, the U.S. alone will have more than a trillion dollars worth of batteries on wheels. Maximizing the economic benefit and utility of that enormous societal investment is a big deal.
The battery not being integral to the car is important for the long term. The point of a car battery should be maximum utility to achieve the highest economic value. Most Tesla EV batteries will decline as much from age as from use. Currently, in the early stage of EV, Tesla is making a major effort to minimize battery anxiety. (Battery anxiety is the mostly subconscious cousin of range anxiety).
In the future, Tesla may:
1) Lease batteries: The maximum use of the battery is in the lease term, and the terms are enforced by software. Most Tesla battery lessors would be able to use the battery additionally for home energy storage or grid services. Tesla Energy will sell distributed grid services, paying participating Tesla EV owners.
2) Rent Batteries: Like lease, but month by month. Trade up or down for a fee.
3) Rent for a trip: Like battery swap today, but with a big battery option. Probably a daily fee to encourage prompt returns.
It is a bit nuts to spend $40K on a battery and have little idea of the actual yearly cost. Tesla is positioning itself to address this major EV adoption issue with a removable battery. It works out great that Cali. pays for part of the effort.
With EV adoption, the U.S. alone will have more than a trillion dollars worth of batteries on wheels. Maximizing the economic benefit and utility of that enormous societal investment is a big deal.
Chuq
Active Member
This is a brilliant idea. I followed what Better Place was doing with battery swaps for some time but never heard this concept brought up - sounds fantastic. In a few years you may own an S60 for your regular daily driving but once a year want to do a big road trip. Hire a 120 kWh battery for a couple of weeks. Pay a fixed price per day and use the superchargers (which are of course free) - 400 miles/650 km in the morning, stop for an hour at lunch, another 400 miles/650 km in the afternoon, then top up overnight.
darthvdr
Member
I actually used this yesterday. Mark assisted me and I was in and out within 10 minutes. They have a nice waiting area with some refreshments. Upon driving up, I met Mark outside. We had to disembark the car and the MS was then driven inside (they do require 48 hr notice). Very straight forward process and even have a screen where you can see the action take place - very cool! Saved me about 45 minutes and for $40 that is well worth my time.
MarcG
Active Member
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