back to article Super Cali's futuristic Tesla batt swap focus – even though car tech test is an expected bonus

Tesla Motors has a Christmas present for a few owners of its Model S all-electric cars, in the form of a pilot program for its new battery-swapping technology beginning in California next week. Tesla founder Elon Musk showed off the tech at an event last year, where he demoed how a drained Model S battery could be replaced …

  1. Ted Treen
    Thumb Up

    What a headline...

    Nice article: the best headline of the year, too!

    1. Oninoshiko
      Thumb Up

      Re: What a headline...

      I want to cast my vote for headline of the year too!

      1. Ole Juul

        Re: What a headline...

        My vote too.

        Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - I always got a charge out of that.

        1. Fink-Nottle

          Re: What a headline...

          Author sounds precocious.

    2. Adam 1
  2. Richy Freeway
    Pint

    Well played.

  3. ecofeco Silver badge
    Pint

    BRAVO!

    Cheers for the headline and the news following it!

  4. Mark 85

    Great headline

    and an interesting concept on the charge or change. That might be what it takes to get drivers to embrace electric.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Great headline

      "That might be what it takes to get drivers to embrace electric."

      I think you'll find the biggest barrier to owning a model S is simply the amount of money needed to buy one.

      This "fast or free" is simply experimentation. With relatively modest electric vehicle penetration of the car market, the instantaneous charging demand of EV's on fast charge would melt the grid, which means either slow, scheduled charging off peak, or building a fuelling stations with an intermediate energy storage facility capable of fast discharge (and that's going to have some chunky capex and operating costs). The days when users could just plug your EV into a grid connected charger when it suited them will pretty soon draw to a close.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Three minutes is fine

    That's about how long it takes to pump a tank of gas, after all, and if they can make it automated enough that you don't have to get out of the car even better.

    1. mark.d

      Re: Three minutes is fine

      The tesla battery swap video from last year, demonstrating the swap against filling up a tank. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY

  6. feliksch

    You mean the 30 000 $ spare battery?

    I figured the fuel costs of a sun-only driven Tesla S and an Opel Meriva Diesel in Switzerland are equal if you consider the subsidies for "renewable" energy. As soon as you replace the dead battery with the 30 000 $ new one, however, the Tesla's "fuel-cost" triples.

  7. Jim84

    Dodgy replacement battery

    Nobody will want to swap their brand new battery for a dogdy used one on its 800th charge cycle... unless they get their original back. Or Telsa throws in some "minimum range" guarantee on the swapped batteries so people basically buy the car and then rent the batteries.

    Battery swapping does make a lot of sense as it solves the recharge time problem. Then you just have to get the cost and the weight of the things down. Musk's "Gigafactory" should get the cost down a bit. But he's still gambling on new better battery tech emerging to get the weight down.

    3 minutes is not a problem, particularly if they automate the payment as someone else said. I think service stations are resisting this only because they want to march you past the temptation of diabetes causing sugary drinks and chocolates on the way to the counter. 3 minutes would give me time to wash and wipe the windscreen anyway.

    1. Terry Barnes

      Re: Dodgy replacement battery

      "Nobody will want to swap their brand new battery for a dogdy used one on its 800th charge cycle... unless they get their original back. Or Telsa throws in some "minimum range" guarantee on the swapped batteries so people basically buy the car and then rent the batteries."

      If this model is more widely adopted, you own the car and the battery is leased - just like Calor Gas. It's not your battery, it belongs to Tesla and you're just borrowing it as a container for the energy you've bought.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Super Cali's CARBotastic Tesla ZEV trade focus

    Congratulations Mr Musk, 2 credits! The reason for this announcement is probably explained in here:

    http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/factsheets/zev_tutorial.pdf

    California created a subsidy programme where car makers were awarded ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) credits, and companies selling non-ZEV cars need a credit or get a $5,000 fine. Tesla only makes ZEVs, so stockpiles credits to sell. Credits are awarded based on range, and ability to fast recharge (FR), and the Tesla-S ended up getting rated as Type-V for maximum 7 credits. But to get the extra credits, the batteries have to be fully recharged in less than 15 minutes, which hasn't really been possible for the Type-S. Yet Tesla has been claiming the credits.

    The issue is explained in more detail here:

    http://nlpc.org/stories/2014/06/30/tesla-enthusiasm-battery-swap-wanes-after-subsidies-disappear

  9. DavCrav

    This is the only reasonable way it works

    You buy the car and have a rental agreement for the batteries. Saves the charging, saves the battery-replacement-once-it-dies issue. Some QC when the battery comes out removes the duff ones from the pool, and also your battery cost, which is significant, is amortized across the life of the battery, rather than being an up-front cost, so the car comes out cheaper.

    Everyone's a winner.

    1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

      Everyone's a winner.

      Until you do the math on the power supply required by the swap stations to charge the spare batteries they have to keep "in stock". It'll work for a limited-edition luxury car brand that only sees a few dozen customers a day, but you won't see it replacing every street corner gas station that serves hundreds of refills per day.

      1. Martin-73 Silver badge

        Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

        Agreed that if cars like this take off, there'll need to be some investment in the power grid, but that is doable, IF the political will is there. In other words, it's not a fundamental problem, just one with the current breed of short-term-thinkers in charge.

        The car companies may even be persuaded to fund part of the development required

        1. WereWoof

          Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

          In reality what will happen is the power suppliers will do the same as happens with ISPs, use to much and you will be capped/traffic shaped and subject to a *fair use policy* rather than them spending money to improve the infrastructure so you can actually use the *unlimited* package that you have been sold!

          1. Robert Helpmann??
            Childcatcher

            Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

            In reality what will happen is the power suppliers will do the same as happens with ISPs...

            The cynic in me agrees, but it is worth noting that electric companies are regulated far differently than ISPs, as has been repeatedly brought up in discussions concerning net neutrality in the US.

      2. Terry Barnes

        Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

        Not every battery will be empty when it's swapped and there's plenty of capacity at night for charging.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

          there's plenty of capacity at night for charging.

          Really? How many filling stations have 2MW grid connections?

          1. ecofeco Silver badge

            Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

            Every single one of the 144+ that Tesla have already built.

            They are also solar powered. http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

            In my city, any large scale new construction (condos, office building malls, etc) are all being built with brand neutral charging stations.

            Do try and keep up.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: This is the only reasonable way it works

              Every single one of the 144+ that Tesla have already built.

              zzzziiipppp. The sound of the point zooming straight past you.

              The subject under discussion isn't car charging stations, which require only sufficient grid connectivity to charge however many vehicules are attached at any one moment. It is battery-swap stations which, in order to become realistic replacements for high-street gas stations, must be able to swap, and hence charge, hundreds if not thousands of batteries per day.

              One luxury niche car brand may be able to support a few hundred charging stations for a dozen cars each, but the chance of every street corner gas station being replaced by a battery swap point with storage and connection capability for hundreds of batteries is zero. The grid infrastructure simply can't support that, even if the capacity is available from the pwer stations. This is not a technology that will replace pumping 15 gallons of liquid fuel as a mainstream recharging approach.

              Do try and keep up.

              Do try and pay enough attention to understand the discussion.

      3. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like