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Roadster battery (ESS)

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All about the Roadster battery (ESS)

Here is what I have learned from my research:

6831 cells - 69 parallel/99 series
18650/2,2Ah Li-ion cells (18 mm in diameter and 650 mm long)
375V/151Ah/53kWh
450 kg/992 lb
Liquid cooled/heated

A conventional 18650 cell weights ~45 gram. 45 g * 6831 cells = 307 kg
So "only" 300 kg out of 450 kg ESS are cells.

The most 18650 cells that I'm aware of have poor discharge rates (2C or less) and a poor cycle life (500 cycles or less). The Cycle life is probably extended due to the very good BMS and cooling/heating system but the discharge rate is a misery for me.

The Roadster motor generates 215kW peak at the output shaft. That means that the inverter pulls 575 Amp from the pack, even if we imagine a perfect situation where the 375 pack voltage won't drop (what it does in real life) and that there are no looses from the cells to the motor output shaft. That would be almost 4C for every cell. I guess that 5,5-6C is more realistic in real life.

We also know that each cell is double fused. This also sounds a little strange.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
New battery pack page here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster/technology/battery
BatteryManufacturing.png

battery_diagram.png
 
structure for ess

Here are some pictures for ess .
 

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Thanks !!

There's supposed to be 9 bricks x 69 cells = 621 per sheet, 6,831 total.

However, its hard to know how precise the drawings were supposed to be, or if the artist couldn’t count … because influenced by a bit to much wine and 10 minutes to spare, I counted 627 cells in each sheet, giving 6 more than stated, and 6,897 total ! :confused:

Maybe I should sober up and count again ...


What the illustrations show nicely is how densely the cells are packed and how the cooling system is plumbed in - details I've not seen before.
 
What is the actual chemistry?

Tesla Motors says Lithium-ion, but that's a generic category, isn't it?

Someone commented after an online article and claimed that Tesla Motors uses Lithium Cobalt oxide (LiCoO), but when I searched for those terms all I could find are Tesla's plans to recycle their batteries at a facility that can create LiCoO batteries from the remains of the ESS. Considering how plastics recycling works, there's no guarantee that the ESS is LiCoO just because you can recycle them into that.

Anyway, does anyone know what the actual chemistry is for the shipping Roadster ESS?
 
Here is what I have learned from my research:

6831 cells - 69 parallel/99 series
18650/2,2Ah Li-ion cells (18 mm in diameter and 650 mm long)
375V/151Ah/53kWh
450 kg/992 lb
Liquid cooled/heated

Is the 53kWh figure correct ? Tesla's battery site page says 56kWh (Roadster Technology - Battery | Tesla Motors).

Was it 53kWh earlier & they have increased the capacity now ?
 
Is the 53kWh figure correct ? Tesla's battery site page says 56kWh (Roadster Technology - Battery | Tesla Motors).

Was it 53kWh earlier & they have increased the capacity now ?

Actually I think the original specs said 56, then they changed it to 53.
I am not sure we got a 100% clear answer why the number moved around a bit. It may be that they derated the pack for longevity purposes, or switched cells.
I am not sure if they were 2400mah or 2200mah cells.

There were also some rumors that some roadsters might have had a lesser number of a higher capacity cells.
(Another rumors that a half dozen Roadsters could do 0-60 in 3.5s... But just unsubstantiated rumors...)
 
Different chemistries have different nominal voltages, and different cells within the same chemistry can have more or less sag under the same current draw, which would also change nominal voltage and kwh's delivered. Tesla may have assumed 3.7V nominal at first and then seen more voltage sag than expected and recalculated with 3.6V.
 
Different chemistries have different nominal voltages, and different cells within the same chemistry can have more or less sag under the same current draw, which would also change nominal voltage and kwh's delivered. Tesla may have assumed 3.7V nominal at first and then seen more voltage sag than expected and recalculated with 3.6V.
Maybe, but in the end, who cares? As long as like comparisons are being made when comparing different packs, all will be well.