Tesla China scratches sale of battery swapping facilities from business scope

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Tesla (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. on March 9 removed “the sales of new energy vehicle (NEV)-related battery swapping facilities, batteries and photovoltaic devices” from its business scope, according to the corporate data platform Tianyancha.

The registration change came only ten days after it added “the sales of NEV-related battery swapping facilities, the repair and maintenance of motor vehicles, the operation of EV charging infrastructures, centralized fast charging stations, as well as the sale of distribution switches, batteries and photovoltaic devices” into its general business items.

The previous adjustment showed that Tesla had been qualified to offer its car owners battery swapping services and sell NEV battery swapping facilities to third parties in China.

Nonetheless, the EV manufacturer denied the plan of running battery swapping business after being reached for comment. The latest removal of this business further proves Tesla's unwillingness to roll out the versions equipped with swappable battery pack for the China-built Model 3s and Model Ys in the short term.

Tesla's toe-in-the-water exercise for battery swapping model can date back to 2013 when Elon Musk showed off a battery swapping technology, which can remove and replace the drained battery pack of a Model S with a fully charged one within only 90 seconds. However, the plan isn’t quite working out due to car owners' lukewarm reception to battery swapping. Musk also believes that Tesla's vastly improved Supercharger network could contribute to consumer disinterest in battery swapping.