Tesla Battery Swap?

May 22nd, 2013 by Important Media Cross-Post

Battery swapping has been a somewhat contentious issue within the EV world. Basically, some people love the idea, some are more ‘meh’ about it. Israel-based Better Place and its many enthusiasts most hyped the idea, and it had some grand plans. As Chris DeMorro notes below, it has (for the time being, at least) folded on much of that. The market just didn’t seem ready for such a radical idea. But there are still some clear advantages, and it seems Tesla may see those as worth investing in. More details in the Gas2 repost below.

Even the most doubtful haters will soon have to admit that Tesla Motors has done the unthinkable; build a better electric car. While CEO Elon Musk has already hinted at what the future holds for his electric automaker, a recent filing with the SEC revealed a twist to Tesla’s plans; battery swapping.

The idea of fast-swapping the battery out of an electric car is not new, though so far the few large-scale experiments have not been successful. Most famously Project Better Place promoted a battery-swapping scheme that had ambitions of 100,000 vehicles on the road by 2016; currently they’re selling about 100 models a month in Israel and Denmark, after pulling out of America and Australia.

In their recent SEC filing, on page 38 outlining future plans, Tesla discusses what factors may affect the adoption of electric vehicles. Specifically, the filing says that the ability to “…rapidly swap out the Model S battery pack, and the development of specialized public facilities to perform such swapping, which do not currently exist, but which we plan to introduce in the near future.”

What is Tesla thinking getting into battery swapping? Perhaps they are thinking that their Supercharger fast-charging stations just aren’t going to be enough. To truly compete with gas-powered vehicles, electric vehicles need a similar “refill” time. Battery swapping could make that possible, eliminating one of the biggest criticisms of EVs; their long recharge time.

As it stands, the Tesla Supercharger takes about 30 minutes to add 150 miles of range to the Model S, and can fully charge the 85 kWh model in just over an hour. While that is faster than any other method on the market, it is still longer than many people want to wait, and is limited by access to Superchargers.

But if battery-swapping stations were to become more prevalent around major metro areas, well, that could change the whole EV dynamic, and perhaps make battery leasing another option for Model S owners.

Elon has already taken a lot of risks with Tesla, and most of them have paid off. Can he make battery swapping work too?

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Tags: better place, Elon Musk, Tesla, Tesla battery swapping, tesla superchargers

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Important Media Cross-Post -- CleanTechnica is one of 18 blogs in the Important Media blog network. With a bit of overlap in coverage, we sometimes repost some of the great content published by our sister sites.

vel

If Battery swapping is costlier than gas price based on Per Mileage basis then “FORGET IT”. I would suggest to invent a smaller battery with longer coverage (400 to 500 Miles radius) and shorter charging time around 5mins.

If possible, Car should accommodate 2 set of smaller batteries with longer coverage as a result of above innovation. One battery will get charged from same car’s movement of wheels (and / or) Solar panel while other battery is in use for Driving. This could prove the basic Physics concept of Energy is neither created nor destroyed but converted into another type of Energy.

THINK OUT of THE BOX Guys !!!
- Bob_Wallace
  
  ” One battery will get charged from same car’s movement of wheels ”
  
  That’s thinking outside the reality box.
Y Ev

batteryswapstations dot com and swapstations dot com reserved for Tesla?
Manpreet Singh

another solution I have is the Wireless Charging Lane for EVs, where one can drive a little slow and charging their battery on the run, or may be can install nokia like wireless charging point through out the city on roads, street lights.
http://www.facebook.com/brian.wark Brian Wark

Every EV should come with a secondary battery that is swappable. There should be a standard dimension. And for fun and consumer familiarity it should have the same shape as a AA battery, just much larger. You should be able to pull into a gas (oops) a battery station a door flips open on one side of my car and one or two are pushed (sucked) out and two new ones swapped in. I live in Canada and hate getting out to in the middle of winter freezing my arse off to pump gas.
- Bob_Wallace
  
  EV batteries are quite expensive. (At least for now.) If people had to pay for a second battery the sales rate for EVs would be approximately zero per year.
  
  Could you do your daily driving with an EV with the range of a LEAF? If so, you could just plug in when you get out and walk toward your door. No standing around required. You could even install a wireless charger and do nothing but park in the same place at night.
  
  Swapping is an option, but it didn’t catch on in Israel. In the lower right corner there’s a YouTube link that shows how easily/quickly their system does a battery swap.
  
  http://www.betterplace.com/solution/charging/
- Ronald Brak
  
  Interesting idea. But instead of coming with two batteries it has an empty space where one could be rapidly slotted in. This way one uses your own battery most of the time but you can use battery swapping on long trips or if you are unable to charge normally for some reason. But unlike Better Place it would have to be cheap enough for it to take off (or alternatively people will have to get rich enough to pay for the convenience).
Brian H

About a year ago, his opinion was that no one had a “business model that works”. Infrastructure and inventory costs are killer. If he has found a way to finesse those, it may fly. Possibly high-C charging in the swap stations might “break the back” of the problem?
Bob_Wallace

I really don’t understand the thinking here. We’re seeing developments in the labs that should give us EVs with 200 mile ranges with the same size/weight battery packs that now give us less than 100.

Prices are almost certainly nothing more than manufacturing scale issues. Sell more EVs, manufacture more batteries and the price will drop. Batteries and electric motors should become cheaper than internal combustion engines with all their needed systems. The price of a “Camry” EV should end up lower than the price of a “Camry” ICEV.

Batteries already take a 90% charge in less than 20 minutes. 200 mile range and that sort of charging lets you drive over 500 miles with only two modest stops. (Got to eat and pee anyway.)

Swapping batteries is fast. Better Place was doing it in 1:13 minutes. But the extracted batteries still have to be recharged before they can be swapped into the next EV. If the idea is to have a very large stock of overnight charged batteries then one has to consider the cost of all those spare battery packs.

The only time “savings” is that the driver spends a few minutes less at the “service station” and then stops somewhere else for the eating/peeing stuff.
MightyDrunken

I think that battery swapping is certainly the best way if you consider the benefits.

The largest cost of an electric car is its battery. Rather than pay upfront for the battery, what about if you rent it? You get to spread the cost over time so it becomes more affordable, the money you save on fuel can go to pay the battery rent. If the battery becomes damaged or useless you won’t lose all your money, it could be replaced.

So if you do not own the battery you probably won’t mind it being swapped at the refilling station. You just recharged your electric car in a minute! Having the batteries managed in such a way may mean they can be easily repaired and upgraded too.
- Mofoman
  
  Yes, I agree with you. It is a novel concept that will have many doubters but if anyone can pull it off it will be Musk. For a second also consider the fact that the battery pack is the most expensive component of the electric car, and as such there could also be a scenario where the price of the Model S is half what it is now at $40,000 and then you simply rent the battery packs from Tesla or other 3rd party who can profit from the lease payments and recycling and reusing the packs.
- James Wimberley
  
  Renault/Nissan have already gone the battery leasing route. An obvious winner, as it deals with the technological risk issue. Upgrades become the car maker’s problem.
  Battery swapping is critical for buses and taxis. Not Tesla’s target markets, but they are on other peoples’ radar.
  - Bob_Wallace
    
    It’s not clear that battery swapping is needed for taxis or (local) buses.
    
    BYD has several hundred EVs in taxi service and they seem to be doing fine. They carry a lot more battery than does the LEAF and they work recharging into driver rest/meal breaks.
    
    Their EVs have a 140 to 200 mile range, depending on driving conditions. One taxi has now driven over 150,000 miles on the original battery.
    
    BYD is also bringing a battery powered but to the US market which has a 155 mile range.
    
    Plus a bus it being tried out in Utah which grabs a quick charge during some of its passenger stops. With hybrid supercapacitor/battery packs a bus could take on a big hunk of electricity very quickly and transfer it to the batteries for more efficient storage. Then the SCs can be used to capture breaking energy on the way to the next charge point.