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Who cares ? Make battery swap the standard option, build enough swap stations, and sell me a cheaper car without battery. I want to pay for "battery as a servi

Who cares ? Make battery swap the standard option, build enough swap stations, and sell me a cheaper car without battery. I want to pay for "battery as a service", I don't need to own a battery, I don't want to charge it, just bill me by the KWh used (which should better be competitive to gas).

goatforce5 11y ago
People didn't use the battery swap stations: http://fortune.com/2015/06/10/teslas-battery-swap-is-dead/ http://fortune.com/2015/06/10/teslas-battery-swap-is-dead/ (Although the business model didn't work as you describe it.) It seems as though, for now, the supercharger network is good enough.
- cornholio 11y ago
  Yeah, I know the story. The result shouldn't surprise anyone, the swap approach works only if there are enough swap stations so that buying a battery-less car makes sense. As long as all Teslas come pre-equipped with a very expensive battery, it makes little economic sense to let it depreciate while you are paying to use another battery.
- alexkcd 11y ago
  These stations don't get used much because Tesla sells a battery with every car they make. If the cars came without the battery, there would be a lot of demand, but would also require the infrastructure to be in place to support long range travel. It's a classic chicken and egg problem. What Tesla discovered is that bootstrapping the battery swap infrastructure off of battery owners doesn't work, since owners are reluctant to pay for swapping out their battery over recharging the one they own.
- ghaff 11y ago
  See also Better Place: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Better-Place-Battery-Swapping-EV-Startup-Stays-Alive http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Better-Place-Bat... (Although, arguably, it was also launched too early from a technology perspective.)
ctdonath 11y ago
Swapping around $15,000 components understandably makes a lot of people skittish.
chongli 11y ago
This is not like swapping out the propane tank on your backyard BBQ; the battery in a Tesla is huge, extremely heavy and very expensive.
- cowsandmilk 11y ago
  Tesla has a battery swapping station that you can pay to use...
dingaling 11y ago
> I want to pay for "battery as a service", I don't need to own a battery, I don't want to charge it Renault in Europe are part-way there with their EVs ( the Fluence, Zoë and Twizy ) You buy the car but pay a battery-lease to Renault each month, when the battery capacity falls below 80% they call you in to a garage and swap-out the pack. You still have to pay for charging, though. The Renault approach appears to be appreciated by people who are dabbling in EVs as a hobby ( e.g. wealthy folk in leafy areas of London ) but is offputting to people looking to replace their internal-combustion cars. £70 minimum per month for rental + cost of charging quickly exceeds the cost of diesel in the UK.

goatforce5 11y ago

People didn't use the battery swap stations: http://fortune.com/2015/06/10/teslas-battery-swap-is-dead/ http://fortune.com/2015/06/10/teslas-battery-swap-is-dead/ (Although the business model didn't work as you describe it.) It seems as though, for now, the supercharger network is good enough.

cornholio 11y ago
Yeah, I know the story. The result shouldn't surprise anyone, the swap approach works only if there are enough swap stations so that buying a battery-less car makes sense. As long as all Teslas come pre-equipped with a very expensive battery, it makes little economic sense to let it depreciate while you are paying to use another battery.
alexkcd 11y ago
These stations don't get used much because Tesla sells a battery with every car they make. If the cars came without the battery, there would be a lot of demand, but would also require the infrastructure to be in place to support long range travel. It's a classic chicken and egg problem. What Tesla discovered is that bootstrapping the battery swap infrastructure off of battery owners doesn't work, since owners are reluctant to pay for swapping out their battery over recharging the one they own.
ghaff 11y ago
See also Better Place: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Better-Place-Battery-Swapping-EV-Startup-Stays-Alive http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Better-Place-Bat... (Although, arguably, it was also launched too early from a technology perspective.)

ctdonath 11y ago

Swapping around $15,000 components understandably makes a lot of people skittish.

chongli 11y ago

This is not like swapping out the propane tank on your backyard BBQ; the battery in a Tesla is huge, extremely heavy and very expensive.

cowsandmilk 11y ago
Tesla has a battery swapping station that you can pay to use...

dingaling 11y ago

> I want to pay for "battery as a service", I don't need to own a battery, I don't want to charge it Renault in Europe are part-way there with their EVs ( the Fluence, Zoë and Twizy ) You buy the car but pay a battery-lease to Renault each month, when the battery capacity falls below 80% they call you in to a garage and swap-out the pack. You still have to pay for charging, though. The Renault approach appears to be appreciated by people who are dabbling in EVs as a hobby ( e.g. wealthy folk in leafy areas of London ) but is offputting to people looking to replace their internal-combustion cars. £70 minimum per month for rental + cost of charging quickly exceeds the cost of diesel in the UK.