killjoy2012 wrote:
- Elon Musk posted a 7 minute commercial touting his Model S "fast battery swap" back in June. Yet, 2 months later, there's still no details available on exactly how, what the cost will be or when it'll be available. All of the questions Jfet asked are very valid, practical concerns for a potential buyer. Why publish a commercial promoting something without either having those details worked out beforehand, or at least, published shortly thereafter? (I could speculate why, but I won't.)
Yes, this is not unusual for new technologies and happens in all industries. Everything does not happen overnight.
- "At the station" -- Where exactly are these stations you speak of again? By station, are you referring to the 18 supercharger sites located in only 8 states today? And what happens if, god forbid, you need to actually drive somewhere else than the NYC, Chicago, California, Orlando and Seattle areas?
How many years did it take for the current network of gas stations to get deployed ? This is a serious question.
Note that the Tesla S still has means of charging at many other places, just not as fast as Superchargers allow.
Drivers can already use the slower level 2 charging infrastructure which is much larger. And of course, the much slower 120V outlets.
It isn't like the Tesla S can't be charged in other areas, they just can't be charged as quickly.
There are also many more Chademo DC fast chargers (hundreds nationwide, as opposed to dozens) used by the Nissan Leaf, for which Tesla is reportedly making an adapter.
- And you refer to the tracking & handling of a $12k+ battery like I'd talk about the $20 propane tank under my barbeque. Maybe if you're a dot-com multimillionaire living a posh Malibu lifestyle, then fine, maybe that analogy still holds -- and $12k is chump change. But I don't think that's the case for most in the broad market. Or better stated:
Clearly you are not the target market. It is usually costly to be an early adopter of new technology. Many who can't afford a Tesla S (or, like me, who can, but would never spend that much on a car) are watching these developments with a lot of interest. Battery technology will certainly need to improve and go down in price.
Current estimates of EV battery prices are between $300 - $800 per kWh. For a base model S with 60 kWh battery, this would mean a brand new one costs between $18k - $48k.
The Model S 60 kWh retails for $70k . I would guess the battery accounts for at least half of the car cost, currently. Obviously Tesla won't say.
Jfet wrote:
This thread is kind of funny. People who are spending $80,000 on a car that uses a $20,000 battery are arguing over if it costs $1 a day for electricity or $1.20.
This has already been addressed, so why repeat it ? The highest concentration of Tesla S in the world is in the SF bay area, which has some of the most expensive electricity in the world. Electricity costs are a concern, even for many Tesla drivers. Tesla S costs far more than $1.2 a day in electricity to operate in the bay area.