As of now, if you're wealthy enough to be rocking a Tesla Model S, you can recharge the thing in just 20 to 30 minutes at one of the rapidly growing number of supercharger stations throughout the country, but that might not be fast enough for you.
Soon, for the cost of a tank of gas ($60-$80), you'll also be able to swap out your battery back for a fresh one in just 90 seconds at the same locations. On your return trip you can opt to pick up your original battery for another $60-$80, or you can opt to pay a fee to keep the new battery, and this is where the system falls short, we think. The main thing holding consumers back from widespread adoption of electric cars is the charging process. People don't want to be forced to take half hour breaks on road trips, and battery swapping solves this. Needing to go pick up your original battery or pay a fee will make people think it's more trouble than it's worth, however, and opt to buy another gasoline powered car.
If Tesla could simply test each battery that shows up in the stations, refurbish the older ones, and let customers keep whatever batter is in their cars free of charge, this could work, but as it stands, it will just piss people off.
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[via Forbes]
