Why Tesla's Battery Swap Makes Sense

I've never been a big fan of the battery swapping model, and it was one of my many criticisms of the Better Place business plan.  The basic concept of a quick swap was sound but the execution always seemed to have a number of details that could not easily be addressed.  Additionally the actual need for swapping capability seemed limited.  Once again Tesla has thought a few steps ahead, dealt with those potential issues, and created a system that may prove to be useful.  First of all, unlike BP, Tesla had an existing successful business model that was not at all dependent on battery swapping, but they built the capability into the Model S, and X, from the beginning.  This actually makes some sense from a manufacturing standpoint, on the assembly line you need to be able to quickly install a pack with machinery for high volume production, so you might as well make it able to go both ways.  This makes any potential service much easier, and it also makes any future pack upgrades easier as well.  What Tesla has introduced is a giant battery pack vending machine, allowing current and future Model S and X owners a quick and easy way to future proof their vehicles by installing the latest and greatest battery pack when available, or at least swapping in a larger pack for the occasional longer trip.  For now they will simply supplement the supercharger network in heavy use areas and allow travelers to swap out their depleted pack for a full one.  Or not.  Elon has said they will install them to meet demand, and the choice will be free supercharging for 20 minutes or so, or paying $60-$80 for a 90 second swap.  It's an interesting experiment to see what people will actually choose.

The Final Nail

It's all over for Better Place.

Electric car company Better Place is planning to file for bankruptcy within the next several days,

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/24/exclusive-better-place-to-file-for-bankruptcy/

... the company underestimated the time and expense of everything...

Nothing else need be said.

Another Nail In The Better Place Coffin

The little support that Better Place has continues to decline:

Ghosn says he isn't confident that consumers will embrace the concept and will likely prefer the simplicity of a single rechargeable battery in their vehicles, Energi Watch says. So far, the feature hasn't been much of a selling point for Renault, which has sold about 2,000 Fluence ZEs. Compare that to over 50,000 Nissan Leaf sales since the model's debut in late 2011.

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/05/03/carlos-ghosn-says-no-more-battery-swap-cars/

Hopefully this poorly conceived idea will eventually be put to rest and we can move on.

Better Place Gets Worse

The downward spiral continues for BP:

Following a difficult year, the departure of the founding CEO, and new fund raising efforts, electric car infrastructure company Better Place has been laying off hundreds of employees in Israel...

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/report-better-place-laying-off-hundreds/

Ouch.