Closed
Description
Instead of charging stations how about manned or automated swap stations – turn up and your battery is swapped with a charged one and off you go. You only ever own a single battery and don’t have to wait hours at charging stations. The station will have a stock of batteries that we constantly being recharged ready for the next customer.
Competitive/Pricing/Notes
Of course, a charge/subscription would be made for this service but seems like a great way to remove the wait times from a journey?-
Status
Moderator: Implemented, but ultimately failed. Very few users doomed this project, although the test might not have been ideal. The entire system is very complex, very expensive, and requires huge capital outlays for Tesla. The last company, Better Place that tried this went bankrupt.
Update 2: With more and more range, over 400 miles with the Model S in 2020, the need for battery swapping makes even less sense.