You didn't read the article. He didn't say the price per cell was $350, that was what it would have cost him to buy a handful of standard cells. He makes the claim that what Tesla is paying is probably closer to $170 and maybe even lower. You can't get from $170 to $400 with just the pack costs.

"But the fact is that Tesla's reported sales of 4,750 units of its Model S electric car in April "

Tesla sold 4900 (not 4750) in Q1 (not April).

Agree that this sounds like whining and they are doing Tesla a big favor by responding to these headlines.

I'm pretty sure they had to demo this ability to some regulatory body in CA in order to get the EV credits they are getting. So it can definitely be done in under 2 mins. I think they did it manually with a "pit stop" crew for that demo though.

Also, part of Elon's bet with Dan Neil hinged on pack swapping. So presumably he got a similar demo before coughing up the cash.

"Unlike Better Place, however, Tesla owners would then pick up their original batteries on the return trip."

What makes you believe this? I have never heard any convincing evidence of this and you have no citation (unlike the rest of the article which is pretty well cited).

It is flat against the floor of the car and attached by just a handful of bolts (8 or 12 maybe? I don't remember exactly.)

I wonder though if Tesla's board could sell the company without Elon and Kimble's blessing. It seems like the amount of shares they control would make it extremely difficult.

Isn't it kinda silly to use MSRP when the manufacturer owns the store that is selling it? To whom is the manufacturer supposedly suggesting a price? Just a thought.

I for one am glad that the charge port is not on the front of the car since I back my car in everywhere. Statistically speaking you are much less likely to get into an accident if you back into parking spaces. Maybe you should just adopt this habit.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Elon on this one. Maybe if the analyst in question launches a rocket into orbit and builds a car company from scratch, I'll start to weight his opinion evenly with Elon's.

Don't forget about the fact that the pack is going to lose capacity over time. Even if it turns out that you have just enough range this winter, will you have enough 5 winters from now?

Get the bigger pack if it is that close. You'll get a zippier ride as an added bonus.