You can see how batteries can be disconnected, people even disassembled a battery pack: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com...

As for "definite information" - Tesla asked people participating in the pilot program to sign NDAs.

They charge you the battery price difference if you don't return the battery, and it's not worth it right now.

Frankly, no. The next-gen supercharger will be able to provide current at 200kW, and that's about 600 miles per hour. So short commutes (~100 miles) will be easily covered by 10 minute supercharge and for longer commutes the limiting factor is the battery capacity.

Of course, if we get 3000-miles lithium-air batteries then all will change.

Tesla owners usually charge overnight to 80% of the battery capacity - that's about 220 miles. So you need to exhaust more than 180 miles of your range (that's 3 hours of highway-speed driving!). Then you suddenly need to remember that you have to go to an airport another 150 or so miles away (2-3 hours of driving, again) and you don't even have 30 minutes for a charge.

That's a pretty exotic set of circumstances.

And don't forget that new 160kW superchargers can recharge an almost empty battery at 400 miles per hour, so you get about 65 miles of range in just 10 minutes. Supercharger availability may be a problem, but it's much easier to build new charging stations than battery swap stations.

Yes, I think I got a newer battery. However, right now you have to return to the battery swap station to get your battery back.

Anyway, battery replacement can be done easily for Tesla in regular non-automated service centers in a manner of minutes.

I have a Tesla Model S. And I've participated in the battery-swap beta.

It works, almost as on the video - except you have to carefully position your car and attendant manually blocks your car's wheels from rolling.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, though. The price ($85) is not worth it, it's just easier to wait 30 minutes for a supercharge.

There's already a rail connection between China and Europe. It's hardly used, the amount of traffic through this route is pretty much negligible. Most of the Chinese manufacturing is close to the Pacific Ocean, so it's much more efficient to actually _ship_ goods to Europe. The shipping time matters, but not that much.

That's actually not true. The most violent gangs (how do you measure that, btw?) are made from local citizens. Chiefly out of 'ghetto' neighborhoods.

So right now all SWAT teams are at 24/7 utilization, barely having time to sleep and eat?

BS.

A typical SWAT team is deployed less than once a week. That's a reason why we have increased cases of excessive force used - the idle SWAT teams just make it too easy to over-react.

Another BS.

So you're saying that even with uber-militarized police nothing can be done about gangs? Probably, next you'll advocate arming police with strategic nuclear weapons.

Genetically-modified papaya was developed in 1975.

I'm using CapsLock as a layout switching key, lots of other people use it as a second 'esc'.

And why would you remove it, anyway?

So you don't have any other objections to my post? And no, it's not over-the-top - children statistically are at greater risk from your gun than from being killed by intruders.

So in essence, you want to kill small defenseless children.

So you want everyone in a theater to be on guard 100% of time and be ready to shoot back at the sound of a gun discharge? Ok, so you're a nutty idiot. That's pretty clear now.

No. YOU are ignoring reality - the advanced countries with less guns have less crime and far less murders than the US. So it's you who want people to be killed by guns, especially small children.

I won't dismiss a study that is conducted properly. Even if it comes from the NRA. And NIH studies are pretty accurate - they are actually used to working with clinical studies.

So pick 5 states. I'll give you details. For example, Washington (where I'm staying right now) doesn't require anything but a cursory background check (which can be avoided through the 'gun show' loophole). No training necessary.

So tell me, why do you want to KILL CHILDREN?? Do you hate them so much?

I haven't seen combat so I'm not at higher risk of PTSD. And to get a driver's license in my home country, you actually do have to get a certificate from a mental health hospital that you're not under observation for any mental disorders.

Can I shoot you in the head, please? After all, you so want to live in a free society! And I totally should be free to minimize potential harm to me, right? In ANY way that I'd like, including gunning down all the gun owners.

I'm more at risk of dying from my spouse shooting me or from a weapon-related accident than from being shot at by criminals. See here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...

Incorrect. There are no such laws in pretty much EVERY state in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... In most states you can just come in and buy a handgun with only a cursory background check (if that). A nice article: http://www.salon.com/2013/12/0...

Complete BS. Most gun owners have trouble distinguishing which end of a gun actually shoots bullets.

I also have a right not to be shot by you, because you mess up the safety switch.