Re:Apple to build battery-based solar energy storage project...
by fiftyfifty on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @05:22PM
(#26653343)
For Tesla's the battery pack is about 1/4 of the vehicle's weight. The battery pack weighs around 500Kg and the car is around 2,000Kg, depending on the model. The main problem as EV manufacturers look to shave weight the batteries are going to become more integrated into the car's structure, which is going to make them harder to remove and reuse the cells at the end of the car's life.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Apple to build battery-based solar energy storage project...
by r00fus on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @06:09PM
(#26653786)
Do you have any examples of designs where batteries are literally integrated into vehicle structure?
The iconic Tesla battery-skate design is still modular/replaceable for example (they're all 18650/2170/etc cells).
Re:Apple to build battery-based solar energy storage project...
by Retric on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @06:25PM
(#26653916)
Individual cells might in theory be modular, but Tesla for example is gluing them to their battery packs which makes them much harder to reuse at the individual cell levels. The battery pack it’s self is becoming a structural element though it can still be removed, but unfortunately it’s proprietary.
On top of this EV batteries are getting very close to lasting the normal lifetime of the vehicle. Car manufacturers are likely to tray and leverage this as a form of built in obsolescence by making replacing the battery unappealing under normal usage patterns.
Re:Apple to build battery-based solar energy storage project...
by fiftyfifty on Thursday April 01, 2021 @11:08AM
(#26661384)
Here's some pictures of Tesla's plans for it's battery pack:
https://electrek.co/2021/01/19/tesla-structural-battery-pack...
In that article it specifically mentions the cells being "bound" (their words not mine) into the honeycomb pack.
Re:Apple to build battery-based solar energy storage project...
by AS37 on Wednesday March 31, 2021 @07:47PM
(#26654754)
> The main problem as EV manufacturers look to shave weight the batteries are going to become more integrated into the car's structure
For those looking for a source, here's Elon Musk saying exactly that to Sandy Munro.