Has Elon Musk's Tesla Taken Batteries to the Next Level? | 100% Independent, 100% Electric


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Latest news on the Tesla batteries is this will happen over over a few years time.
Carl2

Another leap in battery technology, cheaper to manufacture and 16% more energy dense, things are moving in the right direction 

I just wish Tesla would made a small car, something around the size of a Golf or Leaf. Come on Elon, do it please. 

Well I know Elon had been looking to starting up a company to do mining for battery substances here in America, haven't heard much about lately so I guess it fell through.  The leaf is a good size for me but I do like the fact that Elon kept the standard car look, maybe a smaller car that costs less to make.
Carl2

The model 3 size was always Elon's aim but he needed to get the business off the ground and manufacturing in place to do it. I'm sure there's a smaller car in the offing (compact?).
400 mile (650km) seems to be a sweet spot on range. If that can be achieved in a small car then you have a winner.
South America has the highest reserves of lithium, I believe.

My wife and I were just looking at EVs online and while the overall cost is dependent upon the batteries/range, why wouldn't a nominal range of say, 225 miles be adequate for most people (assuming they did not wish to drive cross country)?

We typically drive out of state at least once or twice a month in the summer but even for those trips, they are less than 170 miles to destination.

Get where you're going, charge it and continue on.

Of course, more range, less charges, more money saved but does the initial cost of the vehicle outweigh the charging frequency and charging dollars spent? Hmm...

Trade offs, compromises, financing, etc.  

I've been trying really hard not to respond to the comment from Snowy "400 miles seems to be the sweet spot" 

Most EV owners seem to be perfectly happy with 200 to 300 miles. Who can drive 400 miles without a toilet stop? Well I can't with my old bladder 

Art, we will make an EV owner out of you, I can feel it 

Haha! Quite possibly! I bought my Prius II in 2011 and happily zipped around my state for those 9 years with it barely sipping gas. It only has a 1.8 litre engine so combined with the electric features, dynamic regenerative breaking, shutting off at intersections and electric only modes, there were many times it got in the 60's of MPG. The highest was 68 MPG and its average is between 46 - 56 mpg so yes, I'm still a happy owned and it still has 94 % of it's original battery bank operational over that time.

I did recently replace the small starting battery which was actually a snap to perform by myself. The battery was a bit pricier than most car batteries at $185.00 USD, but for it to have lasted 9 years, I felt that I had gotten my moneys worth! Most ordinary car batteries have a 60 month warranty at best, which they prorate for you when and if a replacement is needed.

So yes, we are looking into the EV market quite seriously and my wife likes the style of the Leaf. regardless of which we ultimately choose, the interior specifications are a must for me to consider. I am a large man and oddly enough, the Prius gave me a really good bit head and leg room.

I need to do a "Test Fit" before I rush out to buy any vehicle.

We shall see...

OK, I take my sweet spot estimate down to 300 miles. I appreciate that for 95+% of my journeys, a 150 mile range would be fine. But I'm aiming at my driving holiday each year and 150 is too low.
So 300+ or I'm not buying and they're still £30k or for a holiday I'd have to hire a car or spend an extra 2 hours at least to the journey, charging.
Not to mention most 300+ mile vehicles I don't like.

Quote from: Snowcrash on September 27, 2020, 18:06:41 PM
I appreciate that for 95+% of my journeys, a 150 mile range would be fine.

For the last 3.5 years the range of my 24Kwh Leaf has done 100% of my journeys with a few 20 min rapid charges while I have a pee and a drink. Rapid charges are pretty quick you know Snowy, you just get used to it and no queuing at petrol stations or paying VAST amounts for fuel.   

Quote from: Snowcrash on September 27, 2020, 18:06:41 PM
they're still £30k

Only if you buy new, what about the used market ?

"Tesla Aims To Mine Its Own Lithium " this is in todays news but is actually a plan Elon Musk has had and mentioned over a month ago. So Elon has found a company that will do the mining and be able to supply the lithium needed by Tesla. 
Carl2

Talking of Lithium there is an estimated 180 billion tons of it in the sea, extracting it will be a challenge but where there is a will there is also a way. 

Seawater could provide nearly unlimited amounts of critical battery material


Lithium is already being extracted from geothermal vents, found this little video about it.

Lithium batteries seem to be powering so many different devices besides the elec cars, I think it is interesting that they used the same type of battery used in the vaporizers.  I liked the lithium so much I converted 2 flashlights to use Lithium.  Anyways it will be interesting to see what the Tesla researches will do with once they have access to the lithium supplied to them Instead of just buying batteries and putting them in the car.
Carl2

Tesla have been manufacturing batteries for quite a while now.

QuoteBy November 2018, as the Model 3 production had successfully ramped up to approximately 5000 vehicles a week for several months, the production rate of battery cells in the Gigafactory had reached 3.5 million '2170' cells per day

Not sure of latest figures.


They have just released their latest battery.

Not that Impressed by the video put in so I looked for another video  and found this



I think it explains things a bit better and goes into other topics that Tesla is involved in.
Carl2