How much would you pay for an aluminum ion battery retrofit?

[NoleusMaximus]

Looks like Tesla is angling for a business model of selling new battery systems for existing electric vehicles. This shows some loyalty to existing customers who bought lithium battery-powered cars and trucks and now are seeing a superior battery system in the new 2026 models. The battery management system can take either style with a software upgrade alone. The "skateboard tray" battery assembly looks like it could be replaced fairly quickly. The new batteries are going to be produced on a massive scale so there shouldn't be an excessive wait time. And by excessive wait time, well we've already seen that.

Guessing there will be a 40% capacity increase in capacity if the benchmark rule-of-thumb estimates of the new technology holds. Simply put if the 122kw-hr system became a 170.8 kW-hr system there would be a corresponding range increase from 320 miles to 448 miles. Would that be worth $10k to you? It would be to me. The only way that price would be close is if they gave a trade-in credit for the existing lithium assembly. Thing is that even at $25k a storage cell could be justified for peak load sharing, off-grid living, job site power, and remote power in general.

Post what you'd be willing to pay for the upgrade and lets see if we can get it to happen.

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[Coolhandz]

I think that would really depend. If they took my pack as a trade-in, then I'd pay $10k, maybe up to $12k. $13k if they threw in a performance upgrade on the AWD providing a .3 to .5 second 0-60 increase.

 

[REM]

With the market still being in a major battery shortfall and constraint, I don't see any manufacturer placing an ounce of work into pack swaps at the moment. Once they get pack to grid modules simplified, this will be a little different; however for the time being, they are doing really well with pack longevity and warranties.

 

[SlegMD]

Toyota hype

 

[Sterling Shadow]

Interesting. Not sure I would upgrade anytime soon, but I love the idea that I could in the future and keep my CT running forever.

 

[Pulaski]

I'm in. Give me some more range and take my money.

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

Interesting. Not sure I would upgrade anytime soon, but I love the idea that I could in the future and keep my CT running forever.

My CT runs off severed fingers and anti-Musk vitriol, lol!

But I do like the idea of greater energy density and “renewing” the battery pack.

 

[jahansolu]

Honestly, this was what I had envisioned with the Range Extender (before it was cancelled).

Like how cool would it be if 10 years from now a much better battery tech would come along and instead of having to swap the vehicle's battery pack, a range extender would either be installed or swapped.
I, also, imagined that they could give CT the ability to have 3 modes:
1) "Vehicle Pack" with the Range Extender as a back up and recharging with regen
2) "Combo Pack" with the BMS calculating and controlling which pack would provide the "juice"
3) "Range Pack" where it provides the average ~100km of city driving and the regen charging the vehicle pack.

Alas, this was all a dream

 

[SCTesla]

Looks like Tesla is angling for a business model of selling new battery systems for existing electric vehicles. This shows some loyalty to existing customers who bought lithium battery-powered cars and trucks and now are seeing a superior battery system in the new 2026 models. The battery management system can take either style with a software upgrade alone. The "skateboard tray" battery assembly looks like it could be replaced fairly quickly. The new batteries are going to be produced on a massive scale so there shouldn't be an excessive wait time. And by excessive wait time, well we've already seen that.

Guessing there will be a 40% capacity increase in capacity if the benchmark rule-of-thumb estimates of the new technology holds. Simply put if the 122kw-hr system became a 170.8 kW-hr system there would be a corresponding range increase from 320 miles to 448 miles. Would that be worth $10k to you? It would be to me. The only way that price would be close is if they gave a trade-in credit for the existing lithium assembly. Thing is that even at $25k a storage cell could be justified for peak load sharing, off-grid living, job site power, and remote power in general.

Post what you'd be willing to pay for the upgrade and lets see if we can get it to happen.

Any links? The internet claims it was started from a YouTube rumor. Grok said there's nothing from Tesla hinting at the development of an aluminum ion battery and it appears to be false.

Edit: ChatGPT says it's fan fiction.

I understand these LLM just scour the internet, but it doesn't appear true.

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

This is fan fiction.

However, on my wife's old Model 3 the battery died. They didn't have any stock of the same battery, so they said, would you mind if we use the newer LFP batter? We were like Frig Yeah! I didn't realize swapping to newer and different tech was so easy. The car gained about 100km of range and was better for charging and the obvious advantage of charging to 100% every night. It was like a new car, and was free under warranty.

I wouldn't pay to swap out a healthy battery, but I certainly would embrace the option with an aging unit to gain range and the latest advancements. The body, etc of the Cybertruck could last a long time.

 

[hemiarch]

How much were you all planning to put into the range extender when you put deposits down again?
Never really felt like this was the right strategy. Just need a way to supplement the HV battery in real time with something like a hydrogen generator or solar.

 

[mcm4ss]

I always figured it would be a great market for aftermarket companies to tap into. If Tesla did no worries. But I get upgrades constantly in other things that are aftermarket and dominate. I would 100 percent do this and spend up to 30k

 

[Roketman]

I’d pay it up front on a new one. I reserved a 500 mile quad motor truck, not a 300 mile limited range truck.

 

[HaulingAss]

Post what you'd be willing to pay for the upgrade and lets see if we can get it to happen.

I would be willing to pay zero to replace perfectly functioning batteries.

We have 4 Tesla, two 2018 and two 2024. All of them performing admirably and showing no signs of any problems.

 

[REM]

I would be willing to pay 6K or less for an entirely new battery pack (years in the future) because I expect the 8 year warranty to remain as high value as it currently is. Battery prices have been plummeting for more than 10 years, so if the trend continues we should start seeing price parity with ICE engine/transmission swaps soon.

When that happens, it's definitely game over. But it doesn't end there, since battery packs should turn out to be substantially less than ICE engine replacements in 10 years or less.

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