Tesla battery swap a dead-end

Tesla's demo shows how fast the Model S's battery can be swapped.

(Credit: Tesla)

One hundred years ago, car makers could have devised different fuel types and filling techniques for their internal combustion cars, and drivers would have had to visit a Ford station, a Dodge Station, a Chevy station, or whatever the make of their car, to fill the tank. Fortunately, gasoline and filling standards prevailed.

In a publicity stunt last night, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk began pushing electric cars on the non-standard path gasoline cars didn’t take.

At Tesla’s design studio in Los Angeles, Musk showed a video of a Tesla employee filling the tank of an Audi, while simultaneously a Model S drove on stage and had its battery replaced. A timer ticked off the seconds and, as the Model S battery swap was finished in 90 seconds, another Model S rolled out for its battery swap. Meanwhile, the Audi took more than 4 minutes to fill up.

The demonstration was completely realistic. The Model S was designed for quick battery swaps. You can argue that the Audi driver took extra time swiping his card to pay for the gasoline, but Tesla could use automatic payment technology, as the Model S … [Read more]