Battery swapping is an old idea with a troubled history. Better Place, an Israeli startup that was a promising early promoter of EVs, made battery swapping a centerpiece of its strategy—it went bust in 2013. Tesla demonstrated a swapping system for Model S in 2013, but dropped the technology in 2015. Chinese EV startup NIO… Read more »
Why is the idea of battery swapping so persistently popular in the mainstream press? Perhaps it’s because people who’ve never driven an EV imagine that it needs to be like driving a legacy vehicle, with periodic stops at public stations to quickly refuel. Those who are actually involved in the EV industry tend to be… Read more »
The idea of battery swapping for EVs has been around for some time, but the reality has not been auspicious. Better Place bet on the concept and went bankrupt. Tesla successfully demonstrated a battery swap in 2013, but so far has not gotten around to opening any swap stations to the public. A team of… Read more »
It was one year ago that Tesla introduced its battery swapping technology in a theatrical presentation, with lights flashing and music thumping. At the time, Elon Musk said that the company planned to make swapping available as soon as the end of 2013, and eventually install the capability at every Supercharger station. In early 2014… Read more »
An Israeli court has approved the sale of bankrupt Better Place’s assets to a consortium led by solar energy pioneer Yosef Abramowitz, also known as Captain Sunshine. The group also includes Canadian investment banker Henry Shiner, and the non-profit EV Drivers Association. It will pay 18 million shekels ($4.9 million) for Better Place’s Israeli assets,… Read more »
Okay, Tesla has shown that the Model S battery pack can be swapped out quickly and elegantly, to the accompaniment of thumping techno music. However, there are a lot of questions about how this is going to work in the real world, so after Thursday’s live demonstration, CEO Elon Musk stuck around to offer some answers…. Read more »
Tesla’s entire business model is built on succeeding where others have failed, so it was perhaps inevitable that it would make a go of the controversial process of battery swapping. Proponents say swapping eliminates one of the major objections to EVs: long charge times. Skeptics say it’s a complicated and cumbersome way to address an… Read more »
The future of the battery swapping concept looks dim, which is bad news for the pioneering firm Better Place. In an interview with Danish news outlet Energi Watch, Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn seemed to say that Renault’s Fluence ZE will probably be the first and last production vehicle to offer battery swapping capability. “When you… Read more »
Tesla Motors intends to unveil the plans for its long-awaited and much-hyped “super charger” next Monday. In true Tesla fashion, the unveiling will be a media event – you can watch it happen live on the company’s web site – and the charging station itself will be designed to look cool – like an advanced… Read more »
The company already has pilot programs going in China, Japan, Israel and Denmark, and this week it began a new trial project with the deployment of 10 electric taxis.