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Exclusive: Tesla's secret batteries aim to rework the math for electric cars and the grid
Reuters ^ | 07 08 2020 | Norihiko Shirouzu, Paul Lienert

Posted on 06/08/2020 6:06:27 PM PDT by yesthatjallen

Electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next that it expects will bring the cost of electric vehicles in line with gasoline models, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid.

For months, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has been teasing investors, and rivals, with promises to reveal significant advances in battery technology during a “Battery Day” in late May.

New, low-cost batteries designed to last for a million miles of use and enable electric Teslas to sell profitably for the same price or less than a gasoline vehicle are just part of Musk’s agenda, people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

SNIP

Eventually, improved versions of the battery, with greater energy density and storage capacity and even lower cost, will be introduced in additional Tesla vehicles in other markets, including North America, the sources said.

Tesla’s plan to launch the new battery first in China and its broader strategy to reposition the company have not previously been reported. Tesla declined to comment.

Tesla’s new batteries will rely on innovations such as low-cobalt and cobalt-free battery chemistries, and the use of chemical additives, materials and coatings that will reduce internal stress and enable batteries to store more energy for longer periods, sources said.

SNIP

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: carbatteries; elonmusk; tesla
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To: dynachrome

I used to know a guy who taught battery design. Didn’t know him well but it was his ‘field’. He was optimistic on the future but then so is every scientist. Breakthroughs happen, 10% inspiration + 90% perspiration and all that.

It would be great to have batteries that can hold a charge longer, and be recharged over greater spans of time without losing their ability to hold the charge. And we will... to what degree and how soon, I guess we’ll find out.

But suppose you can get a battery system that can drive a car 1 million miles. You get a whole set of other problems to deal with. Probably still cheaper than combustion engine parts, but I don’t know of too many motors that can run that long. Rust? How many times will that car need to be re-upholstered? The average car runs 13,500 miles a year. So a typical Tesla will last, what, 74 years? Is that a viable business model? LOL.


21 posted on 06/08/2020 6:30:00 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: TexasGator

It was sarcasm, but if one does catch fire, very hard to put out.


22 posted on 06/08/2020 6:34:14 PM PDT by dynachrome (The panic will end, the tyranny will not)
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To: yesthatjallen

Low cost, long lasting batteries from China.

What could possibly go wrong?


23 posted on 06/08/2020 6:34:18 PM PDT by UNGN
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To: TexasGator

Musk is to the electric car as Henry Ford was to the internal combustion one. He didn’t invent it but made it so anyone could own one. All roughly 100 years apart.


24 posted on 06/08/2020 6:35:22 PM PDT by Linda Tripp (America's Best Best Friend)
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To: monkeyshine

A lot of Checker cabs hit 1 million miles with proper upkeep.


25 posted on 06/08/2020 6:36:05 PM PDT by dynachrome (The panic will end, the tyranny will not)
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To: dynachrome

Yeah, cars should. They need upkeep and maintenance. Parts will need replacement. Those old checker cabs though - did they have stainless steel undercarriage and panels? What do they make Tesla’s out of?

Salted roads and acid rain... gotta be hard on a car.


26 posted on 06/08/2020 6:38:52 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: yesthatjallen

Who needs a battery when you can put the hydrocarbons that would charge the battery over the grid directly into the car. Eliminating the middle man has always been the best economic model.


27 posted on 06/08/2020 6:40:02 PM PDT by seastay
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To: NotSoFreeStater

Every month we get another miracle battery story.
...
Yep, and Israel will have the cure for cancer next week, and I believe the particle accelerometer will solve fusion the week after that...then, comes the battery problem solved!


28 posted on 06/08/2020 6:40:02 PM PDT by CincyRichieRich (Be still, and know that I am God...Psalm 46:10)
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To: RegulatorCountry

Safe as a Ford Pinto.


29 posted on 06/08/2020 6:43:25 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure)
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To: UNGN

China hopes for revenue from licensing fees for their part in such technology but would not have control over it because the technology can easily be duplicated once it is refined and put into production.


30 posted on 06/08/2020 6:47:13 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: yesthatjallen

a full 300-mile charge takes less than 9.5 hours.
how exciting i love waiting

aaand winter
t was -25C to -35C here all week in Alberta and I get only 25% to 50% of the posted range,

maybe someday a battery miracle will happen, let us pray


31 posted on 06/08/2020 6:47:47 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19 (Game over, man! Game over! ; : rem ad triarios redisse is)
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To: yesthatjallen

If everyone had an electric car and charged from home you would blow every local transformer in the country.

The grid isn’t designed for it. ICE vehicles aren’t going away any time soon.


32 posted on 06/08/2020 6:50:02 PM PDT by fuzzylogic (welfare state = sharing of poor moral choices among everybody)
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To: CincyRichieRich

Still waiting

33 posted on 06/08/2020 6:51:52 PM PDT by xp38
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To: fuzzylogic

These dudes driving around with liquid hydrogen bombs have a better chance

A Big Bang For Hydrogen Truckmaker Nikola As Stock Surge Boosts Founder’s Fortune To $8 Billion
Forbes|4 hours ago
Interest in Nikola’s electric Badger pickup, an inflow of European investors and some short covering appear to have boosted the stock.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2020/06/08/a-big-bang-for-hydrogen-truckmaker-nikola-as-stock-surge-boosts-founders-fortune-to-8-billion/#7af8016a7166


34 posted on 06/08/2020 6:52:28 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19 (Game over, man! Game over! ; : rem ad triarios redisse is)
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To: monkeyshine

You spray Fluid Film on the underbody and inside any body cavities where water could accumulate. Get it up on a rack once a year, inspect for rust and hit it with POR-15 if just surface or repair any perforation and then POR-15. Touch up any scratches or damage to the paint. Wax it a couple good times a year. Do this and you’ll be able to keep that vehicle for as long as you want despite the road salt.


35 posted on 06/08/2020 6:53:54 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: yesthatjallen

If Elon Musk & Company can pull that off along with his success with SpaceX

I don’t like technology pushed & forced on me.

Take light bulbs, we were forced to go with CFC bulbs when they forced the halt of incandescent bulbs. If they would have just waited three years, LED bulbs were right around the corner.

For a Electric Vehicle, range and ability to refuel/recharge is its Achilles heel. They are getting the range farther and farther, and Musk has Tesla charging stations in many places. If he is able to double the range from 300 to 600 miles per charge and keep the price of the vehicle attainable he might have a bonifide winner.


36 posted on 06/08/2020 6:57:27 PM PDT by TheShaz
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To: Lockbox; All
But can he get the electric motor to last over 100,000 miles?

Electric motors have fewer components and less wear points than gasoline motors.

Lots of electric motors are still good after decades of service.

37 posted on 06/08/2020 7:02:20 PM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
As someone who grew up thinking flashlights were a corroded chrome tube holding leaking dead ray-o-vacs...

The best ones had a strong magnet on the side, so you could attach it to a refrigerator or an iron pipe. I preferred Eveready to Ray-O-Vac.
38 posted on 06/08/2020 7:03:29 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: Retrofitted; All
The battery lasts for a million miles, with multiple recharges, probably every 500 miles or so.

He is not saying the battery is good for a million miles on one charge.

39 posted on 06/08/2020 7:05:15 PM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: Linda Tripp

“Musk is to the electric car as Henry Ford was to the internal combustion one.”

Henry Ford didn’t ask for or receive huge tax breaks.


40 posted on 06/08/2020 7:18:08 PM PDT by alternatives? (Why have an army if there are no borders?)
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