The downside of the current generation of electric vehicles is lack of charging infrastructure and long charging times. Although Tesla themselves have invested in their supercharger network, it still takes time before a battery can be fully charged up and when it comes to commercial vehicles where time is of the essence, charging is a long and tedious process.
This didn’t stop Tesla from thinking of other ways to solve charging woes. A patent filed in May points toward a place where owners of Tesla vehicles can drive in and swap out their battery packs for a fresh set within 15 minutes. It isn’t the first time where Tesla is trying out a battery swap option. Back in 2014, they released info on how they can swap a battery in 90 seconds.
The system can be installed in any service station, gas station or workshop as well as have mobile applications. Having an easier adoption rate will definitely get more places to install this which in turn provide Tesla owners more places to swap their batteries to increase their range on long road trips.
Whether or not this will go into production and rolled out will all depend on Tesla. I guess when they reach a crucial point where such technology is needed, Tesla will jump at the opportunity to roll it out.
[Source: TechCrunch]
