Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s much-hyped battery-swap station will finally make its debut in California by December, according to a report from SlashGear. CEO Elon Musk, along with his team, showcased the system over a year ago, and in the same event, revealed how the Model S battery can be changed in half the time taken to fuel up a regular car.
Reasons for the delay
However, the EV manufacturer could not meet the earlier delivery promise and kept on extending the deadline to install the fully automatic, robotic systems. According to Musk, the company needed to focus on some important issues, which include setting up its battery producing gigafactory in Nevada and expanding its network of supercharger stations.
When Tesla sets up the battery stations, it will once again join automakers that are eligible for credits, but there is one thing to be cautious about. The company needs to prove that the system is used sufficiently, which raises another question about how popular the stations will be. This question could be answered only after setting them up, and users will need to pay $60-$80 for a battery swap, along with an option to retrieve their old packs on the return trip or pay an upgrade fee. This implies that Tesla Model S owners who cannot deal with the logistics may keep on using the superchargers.
Battery stations to help Tesla earn ZEV credit
The Palo Alto-based company is thinking over speeding up its battery station efforts for economic reasons also. Previously, Bloomberg reported that California rejected Tesla for some of its zero-emission vehicle credits at the beginning of this year after revising the rapid fueling rules. As per the refreshed norms, cars should be fueled to a 285 mile range in 215 minutes, which implies that the Model S that charges to run 160 miles in about 30 minutes was knocked out of the list. Additionally, hydrogen-fueled cars grab most of the ZEV credits, as they can be fueled within the set time.
Before this amendment, Tesla sold excessive ZEV credits to other automakers, which helped the company post a profit for the first time last year. Tesla has, however, managed to rake in profits with or without the ZEV credits.
