TIMING + LOCATION
Tesla will roll out battery-swapping in California first, with the San Francisco-Los Angeles corridor along I-5 going live by the end of this year
Then sometime next year, the company will turn its sights to the Northeast Corridor from Boston through New York City to Washington, D.C.
"Tesla Stations" that offer swapping will be located in the same sites as Supercharger fast-charging stations
Each will have about 50 batteries, which will be kept fully charged by the existing infrastructure for charging energy-storage batteries at those sites
"FAST" vs "FREE": RELATION TO SUPERCHARGING
The Supercharger network of DC fast-charging stations will remain, and it will continue to be free for Model S owners to use
For the much faster swapping, Tesla will charge owners a fee for the fully-charged battery pack swapped into their car
That fee will be roughly equivalent to the cost of 15 gallons of gas, Musk said, perhaps $60 in California
In other words, a 20- to 30-minute Supercharge to recharge a pack to 80 percent will be free, but a full recharge in 90 seconds will cost the same as a fill-up
NEW vs ORIGINAL PACKS
Tesla expects that many owners will return to the same station and have their original pack swapped back into their car on the return leg of their journey (for another fee)
Otherwise, owners can have their original pack returned and swapped into their car later for a "transport fee" that hasn't been set yet
Or, if owners elect to keep the pack they received in the swap, Tesla will bill them if that pack is newer than the original that was swapped out
The supply of swappable packs will all initially be brand-new, but Musk noted that over time, they will age--meaning the swapped-in pack could vary in its energy capacity
A 60-kWh Model S could indeed have an 85-kWh pack swapped in, but unless it's returned, the owner will pay a major upgrade fee
FUTURE OF PACK SWAPPING
According to Musk, the swapping stations, at $500,000 each, are a way to make electric cars fully compatible with gasoline cars in range and "refueling time"
He suggested that in crowded cities like London, swapping stations might prove more space-efficient than the space required for multiple cars to park and recharge
He also hinted that third-party companies might come into the picture to provide swapping stations in some locations
Looking ahead to the company's third-generation electric car in 2016, Musk wasn't convinced that swapping would remain relevant as batteries and charging improved