Power Packs to Take on the Go?

They are 7 or 10 kWh, neither of which would double your 60, 70, or 85 kWh range.
~Larry

I think they should have a reserve where you just need flip a switch to obtain the extra power to give you extra range to drive 20-25 miles. The reserve can be a split of the 85 into 75 and 10 or add 7-10kw Larry mentioned. When my fuel gauge light is lit I usually have another 40-50 miles. I remembered my parent's motorcycle has an emergency switch also

whiskeyrunner said:

Has anyone else considered Tesla should make a portable "PowerWall" that could be brought on trips to essentially double your range of the vehicle? I realize there's supercharges along the way, but I wouldn't mind having a backup in the car just in case something doesn't work out that I could plug into the car and charge. Am I missing something obvious here, or has this been discussed before and my search skills suck?

Thanks.

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Welcome to the forum.

Yes, this subject has been discussed. Here's one thread Portable Battery Pack

You mentioned having a battery pack that would double the range. The weight of a tesla battery pack is over 1200 pounds. Adding a battery to double the range would exceed the load carrying capacity of the car.

You would also have to be very strong to lift it into the car. :wink:

Larry

whiskeyrunner said:

should have clarified, "doubling" was meant more as a term and should have used "extended" or for emergencies. But thank you for guiding me to other discussions about this. I for one am OK with a 1200 back pack if it means extending my range. Maybe I could strap it to the top of the car like those folks do with mattresses... and hold it with a string and my arm out the window.

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Nah, at 1200 lb., you wouldn't need the string

whiskeyrunner said:

should have clarified, "doubling" was meant more as a term and should have used "extended" or for emergencies. But thank you for guiding me to other discussions about this. I for one am OK with a 1200 back pack if it means extending my range. Maybe I could strap it to the top of the car like those folks do with mattresses... and hold it with a string and my arm out the window.

Thanks again!

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Yes, the roof of the car would support the weight since the car passed a 4G+ roof crush test, twice the government requirement.

However, the payload limit (cargo plus passengers) of my car is only 904 pounds according to the loading information label, and I think its fair to say that handling would be adversely impacted. :biggrin:

Larry

I bet the pano roof wouldn't open with a 1200 pound pack sitting on it.

Todd Burch said:

I bet the pano roof wouldn't open with a 1200 pound pack sitting on it.

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Hi Todd,

True, and it would be difficult to install the roof rack option for the Panoramic Roof with a 1200 pound pack sitting on it. :wink:

Larry

I see that these Power walls are about 200b or 100kg. Do you have a hoist in your garage?

With the PowerWall's 2kW output rating, you'd have to dial down the charging rate to 240V @ 8 Amps. That's about 1/4 slower than at home on a UMC and 1/3 slower than a standard Level II public charger. Not to mention the DC/AC inverter you'd also need to carry somehow.

Isn't this the point of building out the Supercharger infrastructure?

James Anders said:

Isn't this the point of building out the Supercharger infrastructure?

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Hi James,

True, by building out the Supercharger and Destination Charging infrastructure in general this reduces the need for bigger battery packs. Obviously there are going to remain geographic pockets where there is less infrastructure and a big battery will come in handy.

Battery storage at Supercharger Stations may eventually be useful to shave demand charges. In addition, where the utility rate structure provides for significant difference in on-peak and off-peak rates it may be possible to use battery storage to do energy arbitrage where the batteries are charged with cheaper off-peak energy reducing the payback period for the investment. When Tesla installs photovoltaic canopies at Supercharger Stations (and probably elsewhere), obviously battery storage would come in handy to deliver the power captured during the day to cars charging at night.

Larry

Tuan said:

I think they should have a reserve where you just need flip a switch to obtain the extra power to give you extra range to drive 20-25 miles.

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That switch exists already--it's called a range charge...

James Anders said:

Isn't this the point of building out the Supercharger infrastructure?

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I was kind of disappointed they didn't have a Tesla connector output on the Powerwall. It could have been like a mini-Supercharger to give you a quick 20 mile range boost (per 10kWh module) in a pinch. That number assumes a 75% SOC and losses, which seems maybe realistic.

Gizmotoy said:

I was kind of disappointed they didn't have a Tesla connector output on the Powerwall. It could have been like a mini-Supercharger to give you a quick 20 mile range boost (per 10kWh module) in a pinch. That number assumes a 75% SOC and losses, which seems maybe realistic.

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Doesn't the Powerwall only deliver the energy at a maximum of 2kW or 1/10th of a HPWC?

Larry

Larry Chanin said:

Doesn't the Powerwall only deliver the energy at a maximum of 2kW or 1/10th of a HPWC?

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Oh, maybe. That would certainly explain it! :smile:

Gizmotoy said:

Oh, maybe. That would certainly explain it! :smile:

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Yes, the 2kW limit is surprisingly low. A clothes dryer is 240V on a 30A circuit. If it's running at let's say 20A, that's 4.8kW. So even two Powerwall units together can't even run your dryer! So the statements of "a battery unit that can run your whole house" are exaggerated a bit. I am pretty sure the limited output rate is so that they can build them without active liquid cooling systems.

Rocky_H said:

Yes, the 2kW limit is surprisingly low. A clothes dryer is 240V on a 30A circuit. If it's running at let's say 20A, that's 4.8kW. So even two Powerwall units together can't even run your dryer! So the statements of "a battery unit that can run your whole house" are exaggerated a bit. I am pretty sure the limited output rate is so that they can build them without active liquid cooling systems.

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You CAN run your whole house, but you would need to daisy chain multiple PowerWalls. It supports up to nine linked-together units. One PowerWall is definitely limited in what it can provide. Nine on the other hand......

gavine said:

You CAN run your whole house, but you would need to daisy chain multiple PowerWalls. It supports up to nine linked-together units. One PowerWall is definitely limited in what it can provide. Nine on the other hand......

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Sure, but that's a bit frustrating, isn't it? You have to way overbuy on capacity just to get the output rate you need.