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Ingineer

Electrical Engineer
Aug 8, 2012
1,515
3,738
Here's some Tesla battery "secret sauce" for your enjoyment: (Don't even bother asking me how I was able to take these!)


?tesla-batt-module.jpg

Here you can see the bare 18650 laptop cells. They are interwoven with an aluminum channel (golden color) that carries coolant to each cell. Looks to me like a good 25% of each cell is in contact with this. (via way of a thermal pad and kapton electrical insulator)


?tesla-batt-module2.jpg

Very large buss bar interconnecting the modules made of thin laminated strips of copper, that way it's still flexible.


?tesla-batt-module3.jpg

This is the top of a module, each cell is connected to it's buss via a tiny single wire, which helps distribute current and acts like a fuse in the event of a cell fault.


?tesla-batt-module4.jpg

Close up of the cell connection detail.

-Phil
 
I can assure you this is not a "leak". We aren't living in China where we can expect to be censored! It's perfectly legal in the US to buy a product, take it apart, and post pictures all over the internet. Besides, any competitor that wants to buy a Tesla and tear it apart, can and probably will. It's not going to hurt Tesla or the stock price.

-Phil
 
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Cool pictures. I hope you were able to put it back together again, and not be left with an expensive "brick" of a car.

As others have noted, I'm sure Tesla isn't happy about such pictures, but there really isn't much they can do about it. Once they have sold the car to you, it represents a "public disclosure" of any trade secrets. Presumably any significant intellectual property has been patented or in the process of being patented.

I think I read somewhere that Elon was using patents to protect all IP at Tesla, but primarily using trade secrets to protect all IP at SpaceX as there was minimal risk of "public disclosure" at SpaceX, but the Chinese could easily read any SpaceX patent filings.
 
Tesla HAD to know it was only a matter of time before not only battery pack photos, but diagrams, would be online. There'll also be breakdowns of the motor, inverter, and many other things. Once you own something it's yours to do with as you please. It's the way of business and Tesla won't be upset in the least, nor will they be surprised.
 
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Building that interlacing cooling channel looks like quite a challenge. Guess we'd better follow the coolant replacement guidelines carefully.

Can you replace any of the modules separately, or is a complete battery change required?
 
I can assure you this is not a "leak". We aren't living in China where we can expect to be censored! It's perfectly legal in the US to buy a product, take it apart, and post pictures all over the internet. Besides, any competitor that wants to buy a Tesla and tear it apart, can and probably will. It's not going to hurt Tesla or the stock price.

-Phil
While I don't deny any of that, when you start a post with "Don't even bother asking me how I was able to take these!" it just raises a bit of a red flag, no?
 
This is the only car forum I've ever been on where the concern is more for the feelings of the manufacturer than the knowledge of how our cars work and perform. I guess it's the nature when there's so many investors and "non techies"/car buffs in the mix, but seriously, we've been given some cool insight, and most of the posts are debating whether or not the poster will get in trouble for sharing.

If he does, he does. I'm the meantime. Lets dissect!
 
Hmmm the MVPA agreement specifically stated you agree not to reverse engineer the vehicle. I would consider this a breach of contract and thus liable for damages.

The key part of that clause in the MPVA is at the end: "only to the extent permitted by applicable law." Their lawyers can put that clause in the MVPA, but they cannot change existing law. In that regard, it is quite clear that you can reverse engineer all you want when it comes to physical things. Tons of case law on this including US Supreme Court cases. The grey area is software, especially with regards to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

BTW, I'm not a lawyer, I only play one on the Internet. :)
 
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Hmmm the MVPA agreement specifically stated you agree not to reverse engineer the vehicle. I would consider this a breach of contract and thus liable for damages.

I suppose it depends on what the legal definition of reverse engineering is. It might be that there is a need to prove intent to use or sell the knowledge, and/or some threshold of damage which would need to be exceeded. Perhaps some the legal eagles in our midst can enlighten us?

I did briefly consider that clause when I decided to monitor and publish my energy usage (at the wall), but I decided that it would probably pretty difficult to construe that as reverse engineering, especially since none of the monitoring eqipment is in the vehicle, or on the charging cable.