It's the Batteries, Stupid!

[JRP3]

I can't see Tesla sacrificing additional range for additional battery life, especially since future cells should last longer anyway.

[vfx]

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/1...er-than-normal

The team believes it can build a battery pack for electric vehicles that can be fully charged inless than a minute.

[bint2k]

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/1...er-than-normal

i love hearing tech that we never hear about after reading one article =)

[efusco]

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/1...er-than-normal

It would be awesome even if the only achieved 10% of that target!


Evan, Via Tapatalk

[JRP3]

Other factors, such as the battery’s energy density and cycle life seem to remain unchanged.

I'm tired of hearing about fast charging batteries when what we need are batteries with better energy density and lower costs. Fast charging might happen 1% of the time, if that, not really important if it takes 1 minute or 5 minutes, which is already possible.

[stopcrazypp]

I'm tired of hearing about fast charging batteries when what we need are batteries with better energy density and lower costs. Fast charging might happen 1% of the time, if that, not really important if it takes 1 minute or 5 minutes, which is already possible.

I agree. If people can buy a 100, 200, 300 mile EPA battery for cheap (AKA below the 20-30k barrier), no one would really care about fast charging. On the other hand, if battery prices remain the same, fast charging would not help sales significantly.

[Johan]

My prediction is however that over time they will limit this even further.

Let's say that next-gen cells could go up to 4.5V, they would still stop at 4.2V and never go below 3V

That way you are technically keeping the SOC between 10% and 85%, so a fast/quick/super charge can continue on higher currents for a longer time and drivers don't have to use a "range mode" any longer.

This will also expand the longlivity of the battery which is a win situation for EV's.

A eg 110kWh battery would be limited to 85kWh for example.

I think you are right, but not until "normal mode" gives you something like 400-500 miles at highway speeds (75 mph = 120 km/h), until that point increase in range will be priority, or at least should be an option (range mode).

[rolosrevenge]

Au contraire, if you can recharge a 150 mile pack in 3 minutes without significant negative impacts, you've got all of the benefits of battery swapping except much cheaper. Though the wiring for that would need to be able to handle ~2 kA at 400 V. Still cheaper than a battery swap.

[Norbert]

Fast charging is also another way to reduce battery cost. It allows a 300 mile (or 230 mile) battery to support long (or longer) trips, avoiding the cost of a battery twice the size. To some degree, it's a balance with the optimum also depending on chemistry.

[100thMonkey]

Au contraire, if you can recharge a 150 mile pack in 3 minutes without significant negative impacts, you've got all of the benefits of battery swapping except much cheaper. Though the wiring for that would need to be able to handle ~2 kA at 400 V. Still cheaper than a battery swap.

Yes, I agree, after driving out to Wenatchee and down to Portland in the Leaf, Quick charging becomes even more important. people don't buy cars based on what will work for them most of the time, they buy them based on extreme scenario's. As soon as a car like the Leaf comes with a battery large enough to make it more than a metro mostly car, I would want to take it on long road trips and with a much larger battery, I would want fast charging even more rather than wait around all day with the family in the car just to drive a few more hours to our final destination. that's why we have an S on order! Fast charging and larger batteries are the key to mass adoption, period. I do have to admit feeling a bit impatient at the plethera of advancements that get reported and how few of them seem to make it to market, at least in a time frame I would like, though Tesla is doing a nice job pushing the envelope with current technology.