Transport Evolved is a news site covering electric cars, charging infrastructure, and Tesla developments.
HN links it for electric vehicle news. Commenters cite it on Tesla's drivetrain fix, its charging standard versus other standards, and the lack of battery upgrades for EVs.
I tried to research this a bit. There have been a few models which have gotten an upgraded battery, so we should start seeing these options.
The new Nissan Leaf has a larger battery pack, but it's not backward compatible.
https://transportevolved.com/2015/09/11/confirmed-30-kwh-nissan-leaf-battery-packs-incompatible-with-older-nissan-leafs/
But they do have a batter replacement option which has better thermal management.
http://insideevs.com/breaking-nissan-prices-leaf-battery-replacement-5499-new-packs-heat-durable/
I wasn't able to find out anything about the Renault Zoe, or Kia Soul (new model isn't out yet though).
But our dealership did tell us that he expects there to be battery upgrades available for the Kia Soul, and this also seems to reflect what others on the forums have heard. But he did say it might be 3rd party options. Supposedly you can upgrade individual cells.
So the picture isn't clear yet. But I think once the market reaches a certain size, there will at least be 3rd party options.
There are reports that this has already been solved.
http://transportevolved.com/2014/08/11/tesla-model-s-drivetrain-woes-50-cent-fix-will-take-drivetrain-replacement/
Moreover:
Speaking a few weeks ago at the Q2 earnings call, Tesla Motors [NASDAQ:TSLA] CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla’s approach — replacing the drivetrain of affected cars under warranty at an estimated cost of $15,000 per case — was more about customer satisfaction than anything else.
“Our optimization was customer happiness. And so we knew exactly what to do. We just wanted to give people their car back right away,” he said.
As Jay Leno happily points out, some of the oldest and coolest "classic" cars are turn of the last century electric cars. [1]
Whether a current electric car may ever turn heads or have gearhead fans a century from now, you never know, retro fashions are inscrutable from this distance.
[1] An example: https://transportevolved.com/2015/12/29/jay-leno-prepares-to-bring-100-year-old-electric-car-into-21st-century-with-help-of-modern-parts/
Tesla didn't use that standard because it doesn't provide enough charging power due to being lower voltage.
The Tesla charger is actually better tech:
https://transportevolved.com/2014/06/16/nissan-bmw-look-adopt-teslas-charging-standard/
I suspect the standard will go no where as Tesla also owns more charging stations than anyone else and is expanding them constantly:
http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger
It seems they have figured out the solution to their drive train problem.
http://transportevolved.com/2014/08/11/tesla-model-s-drivetrain-woes-50-cent-fix-will-take-drivetrain-replacement/