Is This the Beginning of a Transportation Paradigm Change? — Elon Musk’s Convincing Demonstration of Tesla Electric Cars’ “Fill Up” Convenience — Learning from a Man whose Vision Combines Forward Thinking with Absolute Practicality

© 2013 Peter Free

 

21 June 2013

 

 

Take a look at this video clip example of genius making innovation sell itself

 

Joe Wiesenthal, One Look At Tesla's New 90-Second Battery Swap, And You'll See Why Elon Musk Is The New Steve Jobs, Business Insider (21 June 2013) (embedded video clip of Musk’s presentation of Tesla’s new battery swap charge fill up)

 

 

We are accustomed to new infrastructural advances struggling to replace old paradigms — due to the costs and inconveniences involved — so what does Elon Musk target?

 

Exactly that problem.

 

His video demonstration switched out the battery packs in two Tesla cars, one after the other, in less than the time it took to fill up one gasoline-powered Audi.

 

 

More on the two options for recharging Tesla electric cars

 

Tesla owners have the option of (i) charging their cars for free or (ii) paying $60-80 for a battery exchange at coming additions to Tesla’s existing charging stations:

 

 

The automaker will roll out the battery-swapping stations later this year, beginning along the heavily-traveled route between Los Angeles and San Francisco and then in the Washington-to-Boston corridor.

 

"There are some people, they take a lot of convincing," Musk said at an event at Tesla's Los Angeles design studio. "Hopefully this is what convinces people finally that electric cars are the future."

 

Electric cars have been slow to catch on with consumers because of their high price, limited driving range and lack of a charging infrastructure. Tesla has been working to address some of those issues with fast-charging stations and now with the battery-swapping technology.

 

A battery pack swap will cost between $60 and $80, about the same as filling up a 15-gallon gas tank, Musk said. Drivers who choose to swap must reclaim their original battery on their return trip or pay the difference in cost for the new pack.

 

Musk demonstrated two Model S battery pack swaps in the time it took for a car on a screen above the stage to fill up with gas, about four minutes.

 

The stations will cost about a half a million dollars each to build.

 

© 2013 Nichola Groom, Electric car maker Tesla unveils 90-second battery pack swap, Reuters (21 June 2013)

 

 

The moral? — Innovation has to be sold

 

The people with the gifts to do both, simultaneously, are rare.