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Tesla shuts down battery swap program in favor of Superchargers, for now

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Photo Credit: TeslaOwner

Tesla’s battery swap station near the Harris Ranch Supercharger station in Coalinga, CA seems to have been shut down, at least for now. What started out as a company vision to recharge Tesla vehicles in the same amount of time, if not quicker, as refueling a gas vehicle, turned into a pilot program that saw little to no fanfare.

Now, three years after Tesla first demonstrated the ability to quickly swap out the floor-mounted battery on a Model S and replace it with a fully charged battery pack, the company has seemingly closed the pilot program in favor of expanding its global network of Superchargers.

The news comes from a Tesla owner who had been following the development of the battery swap station off Interstate 5 (I-5) since its first debut. TeslaOwner accounts on their blog the experience with using Tesla’s battery swap program.

Battery Swap station at Harris Ranch [Credit: TeslaOwner]

Battery Swap station at Harris Ranch [Credit: TeslaOwner]

TeslaOwner described the battery swap process as being a mix of machine and human. Any automation that occurred during the exchange was augmented by humans. Swap time was, on average, seven minutes. There was some trepidation that, upon returning the battery, a driver would receive a different battery with more accumulated mileage on it. Onboard technology did not recognize the swap and assumed that the original trip totals were continuing.

“Presently the Battery Swap Program is not accepting any new requests for appointments.”

Since experiencing the battery swap last July, TeslaOwner tells us that the same station has remained relatively quiet and “looked quite closed” each time they’ve driven by the station which appeared to have no activity.

This prompted them to inquire with Tesla about scheduling an appointment for another battery swap. According to TeslaOwner, they received a response from the Service Manager for the battery swap station, indicating that Tesla is no longer taking requests for appointments. “Presently the Battery Swap Program is not accepting any new requests for appointments.”

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The viability of battery swaps moving forward

The Tesla proprietary charging station service was projected to be able to support both battery pack swaps as well as fast recharging of the Tesla Model S and Model X electric vehicle battery packs. By December 2014, 18 months after the original announcement, no battery swapping stations had yet opened to the public. Then a single battery-swap station was opened in California as a pilot project, where only invited Model S owners could do battery swaps by appointment, to assess technical and economic aspects of the service. Demand for the priced service would be used to determine whether the company would fully commercialize battery swapping stations more generally.

Photos captured of the Tesla battery swap station at Harris Ranch from December, 2014

By June 2015, the company had indicated that the battery swapping capability was no longer a significant part of Tesla’s plans for on-road energy replacement for their vehicles. Tesla’s standardization of car and the swapping stations alongside battery and battery fasteners prohibited other EV car owners from utilizing the battery swap station. For battery swapping to grow, the following conditions might need to be considered:

  • Find strategic locations for battery swapping;
  • Use alternative energy onsite to recharge batteries;
  • Draw upon grid electricity when it is off-peak, cheapest, or when the more environmental energy generation is available;
  • Assure customers that swapped batteries have comparable life expectancy in relation to the original;
  • Incorporate fleet vehicles to reduce battery swapping costs overall.

The Tesla battery swap program doesn’t receive much press these days, given the news about the impending SolarCity merger and glass roof tiles, among the other constant Tesla technological innovations. Work on accelerating the rollout of Supercharger stations ahead of the Model 3 coming to market next year seems most critical. Moreover, regular Tesla owners at this moment in time don’t really seem to find the battery swap option as attractive as the Supercharger.

Of course, speculation continues to swirl. Tesla recently hired Audi’s North America commercial account manager to lead a new B2B push for Tesla in “fleet management, rental, government/public sectors & corporate enterprises.” Large commercial fleets of Tesla vehicles could change many aspects of the way that Tesla provides services, including a revisit to the battery swap with special, private fleet stations.

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Carolyn Fortuna is a writer and researcher with a Ph.D. in education from the University of Rhode Island. She brings a social justice perspective to environmental issues. Please follow me on Twitter and Facebook and Google+

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Tesla Q2 Earnings: Here’s what to expect

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) will report its earnings for the second quarter of 2026 this evening after market close, and investors and analysts are waiting anxiously to see what the company will report for the second three-month span of the year.

Analysts have already put out their expectations from a financial standpoint for the company’s second quarter, but what’s unknown is what Tesla plans to discuss during the call.

Financial Expectations

Wall Street consensus expectations put Tesla’s Earnings Per Share (EPS) at $0.53, while revenues are expected to come in around $26.4 billion.

This would compare to an EPS of $0.39 and $22.19 billion compared to Tesla’s Q2 2025. Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.41 on $22.387 billion of revenue. Additionally in Q1, Tesla beat analyst expectations, but shares dropped over 3 percent the following trading day.

What We Expect

In terms of discussions, Tesla earnings are pretty sporadic and depend on a handful of things, including current events, investor questions, and more.

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Tesla uses a platform called Say to field questions from investors and analysts. These questions are what will be used during the call. Here are the top 5 from the Retail side and top 3 from the Institutional side:

Retail:

“Tesla has missed short-term guidance on robotaxi 3 earnings reports in a row, from 50% coverage of USA by end of 2025 to most recently 7 new cities in 1H26. What is keeping Tesla back from accomplishing these short term goals that they’ve set for themselves?”

“What are the main constraints to expanding robotaxi operations faster, and how do you see that lining up with Cybercab production?”

“What’s the current status of Optimus Gen 3 production ramp, initial deployment in factories, and external sales timeline/volume for 2027? What tasks can we expect the Optimus to perform by end of 2027?”

“To reward long-term Tesla retail shareholders for their loyalty, can you commit to achieving at least half of the goals outlined in your 2025 compensation plan before considering any offers to acquire or merge Tesla?”

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“Why has growth of robotaxi vehicles stalled? When will we see cybercab start customer rides?”

Institutional

“Previously, you’ve said Tesla would lead the R&D while SpaceX would lead production for Terafab. Can you provide an update on how that division of responsibilities is evolving, and any additional clarity on the expected capital contributions from Tesla and SpaceX?”

“For autonomous driving, Tesla’s fleet created a huge data advantage by collecting billions of real-world miles. That advantage doesn’t yet exist for Optimus. How should we think about data availability and its impact on Optimus development?”

“Why is it necessary to limit robotaxi operations within specific zones within cities to start? Will every city have to be rolled out this way?”

Tesla will report earnings for Q2 this evening with the Shareholder Deck at 4 p.m. ET, with the call starting around 5:30 p.m. ET.

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Elon Musk handed Grok something no other AI company can get their hands on

Elon Musk says SpaceX will feed engineering data into Grok’s next model, avoiding restricted material.

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Artistic concept rendering of SpaceX data being incorporated into a Grok AI model

Elon Musk said Tuesday that SpaceX will feed its internal engineering data into the next major training run for Grok, the AI model now folded into SpaceX following February’s merger. In a post on X, Musk wrote that SpaceX’s “massive corpus of world-class engineering data,” excluding anything restricted under U.S. arms export law, will be added during supplemental training of what he called the “2T run,” a reference to a roughly two trillion parameter model that would nearly double the parameters behind the latest Grok 4.5 that’s rolling out.

The excluded material that Musk is referring to would fall under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which restricts export of technical data tied to defense and space hardware. That likely rules out propulsion specifics for Merlin and Raptor engines along with guidance and control details for SpaceX’s launch vehicles, but leaves manufacturing knowledge, materials science, and Starlink hardware design on the table.

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The announcement extends a pattern that has been building since SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut in June, when the company went public with Grok and xAI’s Colossus supercomputer folded into the pitch to investors.

Days after that listing, SpaceX closed its $60 billion all stock acquisition of coding startup Cursor, giving xAI both enterprise software distribution and a stream of real world developer data to train on. Grok 4.5 launched July 8 running partly on that Cursor training data, with Musk describing it as roughly comparable to Anthropic’s Opus 4.7 but faster and cheaper to run.

Feeding SpaceX’s own engineering data into the next AI model follows the same logic Musk has applied across xAI’s sister companies. Tesla supplies real world driving data and manufacturing expertise, X supplies conversational data, and now SpaceX supplies aerospace engineering data built up since 2002.

Musk did not give a release date for the upcoming AI model, referred to elsewhere as Grok 4.6. He has said the two trillion parameter run is in its final training phase and expected to wrap this week.

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Tesla expands ridesharing service in California to new hotspot

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has extended its Bay Area ride-hailing service to include pickups and drop-offs at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The update, shared via the company’s official channels on July 21, allows users in the region to request rides directly to and from one of California’s busiest airports.

The expansion builds on Tesla’s secured limousine permit for SFO operations. Public records show the permit became effective March 20, 2026, and remains active through January 31, 2027. Tesla vehicles operating the service now display authorized limousine permits issued by the City and County of San Francisco.

Tesla’s ride-hailing program in California relies on Model Y vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) technology. Human safety drivers remain present in compliance with state regulations, distinguishing the service from fully driverless operations.

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The Bay Area geofence covers a broad area spanning north of San Francisco to south of San Jose, offering extensive connectivity across the region.

UPDATE: Elon Musk reveals why Tesla didn’t say ‘Robotaxi’ upon California launch

This SFO addition follows earlier progress at other Bay Area airports. Tesla previously expanded service to San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) in late 2025. The company had engaged with SFO, SJC, and Oakland International Airport officials as early as September 2025 to secure necessary approvals for passenger transport.

The service provides a new option for travelers seeking electric, app-based transportation integrated with Tesla’s ecosystem. Rides are booked through Tesla’s dedicated ride-hailing application, which handles matching, routing, and payments. Pricing follows standard ride-hailing models, with potential adjustments based on distance, time, and demand.

Tesla’s California ride-hailing program launched in July 2025 with an initial invite-only rollout in the Bay Area. It started alongside operations in Austin, Texas, marking the company’s second major U.S. market.

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The Bay Area remains a primary focus in California, with service centered on high-demand corridors connecting residential, commercial, and now major transportation hubs. This latest airport integration represents a practical step in Tesla’s broader mobility ambitions within the state.

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