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> Is Mercedes going to do that? One of top execs at MB is my good friend so I'm getting this information from top source; he told me their idea is to go with r

> Is Mercedes going to do that? One of top execs at MB is my good friend so I'm getting this information from top source; he told me their idea is to go with replaceable batteries. You will have some sort of docking station in your garage and when you park short-term the car flips the batteries for you with a loaded one, or long term just auto-plug itself and charges overnight. No cables, no mess. They work on this solution together with Citroen and BMW but I cannot find anything official or online. Ii will be offered to gas stations around the country and will take 1/3rd of a space that car washes are taking currently. Supposedly you won't even need to get out of the car - you just drive on it, stop, wait for green light, continue with freshly loaded battery! Much more comfortable solution than Tesla's stations. BTW: I spend summers in Florida and looks like Teslas supercharges are dissapearing; I seen plenty of them at all Wholefoods parking lots in number of 10 or 16; now there is only one.

rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
The thing is, EV people actually prefer to plug in for 15 minutes (while taking a coffee). Tesla did test battery swap stations in real world conditions but stop because the demand wasn't there when you have superchargers https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-program-for-superchargers/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-prog... As for the closing superchargers, that goes contrary to everything Tesla customers reports (https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/forums/florida.91/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/forums/florida.91/) and crowdsourced data (plugshare.com and others)
AtlasBarfed 8y ago
I've read about battery swap schemes before, but in practice, you are swapping out the most expensive, major component of the EV for an unknown replacement. This might work for semis, but consumer cars with different heights, dimensions, styles, etc?
rconti 8y ago
I'm gonna need a citation on superchargers "disappearing". It doesn't really pass the sniff test; most of them are fairly busy and getting busier at a high rate due to the launch of the 3. The facilities can't be cheap to build and likely they must have some multi-year term on the space they're using. I'd be surprised to hear of one going away, let alone the statement that they're "disappearing" as if it's some kind of trend.
xedeon 8y ago
> "You will have some sort of docking station in your garage and when you park short-term the car flips the batteries for you with a loaded one" Are you serious? Tesla did this and presented a tech demo in 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY > "auto-plug itself and charges overnight. No cables, no mess." Another Tesla tech demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM0lRfX6YI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM0lRfX6YI Also, what do you mean "superchargers disappearing?". It seems that Tesla is way a head on a lot of things and it will take quite an effort/investment for the incumbents to catch up. Though in reality, wide EV adoption is a WIN for everybody and is actually the core mission of Tesla, which is to "Accelerate Sustainable Transport"
- athenot 8y ago
  > > "You will have some sort of docking station in your garage and when you park short-term the car flips the batteries for you with a loaded one" > Are you serious? Tesla did this and presented a tech demo in 2013 Tesla seems to have faded it out of their roadmap. Cool tech but people seem to want to own the battery since it's a sizeable part of the investment in a car. Europeans are different in that battery appears to be seen as a liability and therefore leased. At stake is how much fast charging you use, as that seems to be what has the largest impact on the battery's life.
- atombender 8y ago
  The battery swap system was a pilot program, and it was shut down in 2016 [1]. I don't think the parent comment was claiming that it was a new idea, though. [1] https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-program-for-superchargers/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-prog...

rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago

The thing is, EV people actually prefer to plug in for 15 minutes (while taking a coffee). Tesla did test battery swap stations in real world conditions but stop because the demand wasn't there when you have superchargers https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-program-for-superchargers/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-prog... As for the closing superchargers, that goes contrary to everything Tesla customers reports (https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/forums/florida.91/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/forums/florida.91/) and crowdsourced data (plugshare.com and others)

AtlasBarfed 8y ago

I've read about battery swap schemes before, but in practice, you are swapping out the most expensive, major component of the EV for an unknown replacement. This might work for semis, but consumer cars with different heights, dimensions, styles, etc?

rconti 8y ago

I'm gonna need a citation on superchargers "disappearing". It doesn't really pass the sniff test; most of them are fairly busy and getting busier at a high rate due to the launch of the 3. The facilities can't be cheap to build and likely they must have some multi-year term on the space they're using. I'd be surprised to hear of one going away, let alone the statement that they're "disappearing" as if it's some kind of trend.

xedeon 8y ago

> "You will have some sort of docking station in your garage and when you park short-term the car flips the batteries for you with a loaded one" Are you serious? Tesla did this and presented a tech demo in 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY > "auto-plug itself and charges overnight. No cables, no mess." Another Tesla tech demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM0lRfX6YI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM0lRfX6YI Also, what do you mean "superchargers disappearing?". It seems that Tesla is way a head on a lot of things and it will take quite an effort/investment for the incumbents to catch up. Though in reality, wide EV adoption is a WIN for everybody and is actually the core mission of Tesla, which is to "Accelerate Sustainable Transport"

athenot 8y ago
> > "You will have some sort of docking station in your garage and when you park short-term the car flips the batteries for you with a loaded one" > Are you serious? Tesla did this and presented a tech demo in 2013 Tesla seems to have faded it out of their roadmap. Cool tech but people seem to want to own the battery since it's a sizeable part of the investment in a car. Europeans are different in that battery appears to be seen as a liability and therefore leased. At stake is how much fast charging you use, as that seems to be what has the largest impact on the battery's life.
atombender 8y ago
The battery swap system was a pilot program, and it was shut down in 2016 [1]. I don't think the parent comment was claiming that it was a new idea, though. [1] https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-program-for-superchargers/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-prog...