Watch the presentation. It is about an hour long but covers all your questions and more. Starts by explaing why they need the new battery. Somehow the press just didn’t understand.
This link skips the shareholder meeting and starts at battery day.
If you don’t want to sit through why they are doing this, skip to 1:08:20
Tesla needs several TWh/yr battery production to meet storage and vehicle demand.
46mm costs less and improves energy density
Tabless greatly reduces internal resistance. > higher charge and discharge currents. Lower resistive heating losses. > better power to weight ratio.
The 5x energy +16% range 6x power graphic doesn’t include chemestry or other improvments. It represents tabless form factor alone. Tesla’s protype batteries are much better.
Tesla are ramping a 10GWh/year pilot plant now. Prototype cells have been in vehicles for months. They’ve made 10’s of thousands of cells but the yield isn’t great.
Varioius cathodes, all zero Cobalt. Fe for storage and low cost EV. NiMn for most EVs. High Ni for maxium energy density. (Tesla Semi mentioned. I suspect aircraft too)
Several process improvments to reduce cost and improve scalablity.
49% reduction in cell cost per kWh.
2 to 3 “Tesla” years to reach full production. They are always late, so 2.5 to 4 years??
Actually, the 5 digit system was to follow the button type cell. The first two digits for diameter in approximate millimetres, the three last digits for height in tenths of a millimetre. As cylindrical cells have approximate dimensions, the resolution of height in 0.1mm is redundant.
Thanks. Here’s the actual break down in intelligence: “because we couldn’t figure out what it was for, we just assumed it wasn’t for anything.”
OT
This is the first time I have ever heard Musk speak. It so often happens with famous rich people that no one can give them bad news, like, “I am sorry, Mr. Jackson, Propofol is not something you can have; it requires an anesthesiologist to administer, you have no valid need for it; it would be illegal… so, no.” Someone should tell Musk, and make certain he understands that it matters, that he can’t speak for sh!t, and that he should actually put effort and time into improving that, as doing it well can be learned, and it would benefit his enterprise immensely. The worst thing a smart person can do is assume they know everything, and then surround themselves with yes men with no ability to tell truth to power.
True, compared to vehicle demand, power tools won’t drive this. And these cells certainly won’t be showing up in your average drill kit. But they’d be great for cordless lawn mowers and other large tools! That kind of application should provide at least some incentive to mainstream this size of cell.
Soda can lights with 150k+ lumens are perhaps within reach with Elons new cells. My 10-20k lumen lights get slightly warm fast, 150k would be akin to holding molden lava?
The Q8 has those big honkin’ springs for the individual 18650s, to make sure even different-length cells are firmly smooshed up against the top ring.
Ditch the springs and that insert as well, a small group of nubbins right on the end-cap to make contact with the negative end of the cell is all that’s needed.
Hell, a sprinkling of a few belleville washers, a crimped/bumpy/crunkled thin sheet of Cu, anything shallow but that makes good electrical contact, is all that’s needed.
At least it’s a start. Any mfr could make a variant of the tube to fit one of those donks, bored out and marginally longer if needed.