[NeilBlanchard]

Tesla answers questions about battery swap announcement

Question: Are the batteries at the stations all brand-new?

Answer: They will be brand-new at first. But as owners use them, they will obviously have recharging cycles on them. Each will be monitored for optimal performance, so the customer won't have to worry about that.

Question: How much does it cost to upgrade a charging station to allow battery swapping?

Answer: It costs about $500,000 per site, and that includes digging the pit, construction and hardware. The electrical capacity is already on site (supplying energy to the Superchargers).