Tesla Demos Battery Swap Technology

Last night, Tesla held a press conference/love-fest at its design studio in Hawthorne, CA in order to demonstrate its battery swap technology. The event began late, as attendance overwhelmed the valet’s capacity but finally started with Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen introducing CEO Elon Musk. Musk quickly outlined his vision for the nascent technology describing the act of swapping batteries as “driving through a car wash– you stay in your car, the battery is changed and then you drive off.”

Indeed, based on the demo, which pitted an Audi A8 refueling (via video feed) against a Tesla Model S battery swap we were impressed. Not only did the Tesla complete its battery swap in the advertised time (about 90secs) but there was actually enough time for two Teslas to change battery packs before the Audi completed filling! Tesla envisions a string of Supercharging Stations (Tesla’s free-for-owners recharge stations) from San Francisco to Los Angeles to New York and Washington DC to Boston that take thirty minutes to fully recharge a battery also being fitted with battery swap bays (that you need to pay for) as a complement, for people in a rush. So it’s your choice– free and slow or quick and about the price of a fill-up? The price of the battery swap will be pegged to the price of filling a fifteen gallon fuel tank and there will be additional fees based on age of battery, blah blah blah.

The crowd was composed mostly of current Tesla owners and even the media in attendance was willing to give Tesla the benefit of the doubt so there weren’t too many challenging questions. It seems as though most people truly want this company to succeed, hell, we do too. But there are still many challenges and based on the fact that sales are restricted by production, not demand, Tesla’s profit isn’t being maximized. In order to realize its dreams of coast-to-coast battery swap and charging stations Tesla needs to maximize its production and introduce new models.

To that end, the upcoming Model X (Tesla’s gullwing SUV, arriving in 2014) will use a similar layout enabling it to use the same battery swap technology. When asked about the as-yet unnamed entry-level Tesla, Musk replied vaguely that it may or may not use the same platform depending on the vehicle’s architecture. With regard to performance targets, the new baby-Tesla is aiming for a 200 mile range and a four occupant package. We’d expect to see a concept in eighteen months.

Fast Pack Swap Event from Tesla Motors on Vimeo.