Is Tesla's big announcement a battery swapping network?
- Jon Xavier
- Web Producer- Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Email | Twitter | Google+
But the Christian Science Monitor dug up something interesting that may let the cat out of the bag.
According to the Monitor, Tesla mentions in its most recent 10-Q filing the possibility of rapidly switching out the battery pack on the Tesla Model S and the existence of specialized facilities to do this as a potential factor that could affect the adoption of its electric vehicles.
That's not the first time the company has mentioned battery swapping as a feature it's interested in, but the language is definitely stronger here than it's been in the past. Such facilities don't exist, Tesla points out, but it plans "to introduce them in the near future."
Given the recent anxiety about total range and charging times on electric vehicles, and given that Tesla is already reportedly working on expanding its network of proprietary Supercharger charging stations, it's not inconceivable its big announcement might be swapping facilities for Model S battery packs.
Presumably such facilities would use automated equipment to swap an empty battery pack for a full one, rather than waiting the roughly 30 minutes for the battery to charge as is necessary currently.
That could go a long way toward getting consumers to feel comfortable about the electric vehicles, especially if it makes good on a promise Tesla CEO Elon Musk made in a tweet for there to soon be a way to recharge a Tesla in less time than it takes to fill up a tank of gas.
However, it's not as if the battery-swapping idea hasn't been tried in the past. Most notably, the Palo Alto startup BetterPlace tried to roll out a network of battery swapping stations in the U.S., but was never able to get a significant number off the ground and is now limited to a handful of stations in Israel and Denmark.
Crucially, though, BetterPlace started building charging stations in 2008, before there were that many electric vehicles on the market. It might be argued that it was just too early into the market. Tesla would be building out on top an existing network of supercharger stations, serving an existent (if small) market of vehicles that are already on the road.
Jon Xavier is Web Producer at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1826.
No comments:
Post a Comment