Portable emergency battery pack for the trunkbe f

[srs5694]

Other than that, it would be great if Tesla cars could charge each other if needed. The Tesla pick-up, with a 200kWh battery, could find a stranded Tesla vehicle in the boonies, and charge it at at least level 2 rates.

The upcoming Sion is supposed to be able to do that. It sounds like a cool feature, but I expect it won't be used very often.

Don't they already have ideas to strap a solar panel on the roof of the car and connect it to the car battery as a backup charger as it drives? Vampire gain may be software controlled to be switched off when the battery is full and if driving, it goes to helping the car move?

Yeah, this comes up regularly, and it's as impractical as hauling around a spare traction battery. The amount of PV you can possibly put on the roof a car is so small and the engineering needed so significant, that it's a complete non-starter.

Again, Sion is planning to implement this. The car isn't available yet, but I think it's starting to look like more than vaporware, since a former Saab facility has now been named as the location where they'll be manufactured. The amount of range acquired from just sitting in the sun is low, but every little bit of range -- especially "free" range from a zero-emission source -- is helpful. Whether this approach will catch on or be something used in a single model for a brief period remains to be seen, of course, and I'm not taking a position on that question.

The main point about carrying extra capacity, though, does raise the question of what happens if/when electricity storage or production technology improves in a significant way. For instance, consider the "Mr. Fusion" device from "Back to the Future." Putting one of those in the trunk and wiring it to a Tesla's batteries would probably be worthwhile, and if such a technology were invented, I imagine we'd see a cottage industry crop up to retrofit EVs of all stripes with these devices. That said, truly revolutionary technologies like this seldom emerge overnight. We're more likely to see battery energy storage density increase incrementally over the next decade or two, at which point you might be able to replace a Model 3's battery pack with something that'll get two or three times the range in the same space and weight, for a fraction of the cost of the current battery pack. If the car's still otherwise functional at that time but your batteries are failing, upgrading the batteries might make sense; but even with such improved batteries, I'm not sure carrying the latest batteries around in the trunk would be worthwhile, for the reasons others have stated.

 

[mike123abc]

It would be even better if there were enough supercharging stations.

 

[Legen---dary]

The upcoming Sion is supposed to be able to do that. It sounds like a cool feature, but I expect it won't be used very often.



Again, Sion is planning to implement this. The car isn't available yet, but I think it's starting to look like more than vaporware, since a former Saab facility has now been named as the location where they'll be manufactured. The amount of range acquired from just sitting in the sun is low, but every little bit of range -- especially "free" range from a zero-emission source -- is helpful. Whether this approach will catch on or be something used in a single model for a brief period remains to be seen, of course, and I'm not taking a position on that question.

The main point about carrying extra capacity, though, does raise the question of what happens if/when electricity storage or production technology improves in a significant way. For instance, consider the "Mr. Fusion" device from "Back to the Future." Putting one of those in the trunk and wiring it to a Tesla's batteries would probably be worthwhile, and if such a technology were invented, I imagine we'd see a cottage industry crop up to retrofit EVs of all stripes with these devices. That said, truly revolutionary technologies like this seldom emerge overnight. We're more likely to see battery energy storage density increase incrementally over the next decade or two, at which point you might be able to replace a Model 3's battery pack with something that'll get two or three times the range in the same space and weight, for a fraction of the cost of the current battery pack. If the car's still otherwise functional at that time but your batteries are failing, upgrading the batteries might make sense; but even with such improved batteries, I'm not sure carrying the latest batteries around in the trunk would be worthwhile, for the reasons others have stated.

The betavoltaic idea I mentioned is akin to Mr. Fusion, and is entirely feasible today. Of course since it involves the word "nuclear," and most people have almost no understanding of the technology, it would never be allowed in the size I'm thinking.
Yeah, no point at all carrying extra batteries around. Just get a bigger battery to start with.
For sure in 20 years batteries will be nothing like today. I reckon 10% the cost and 3x the capacity. Fun times ahead!!!

 

[davewill]

The skin of the car being solar is not entirely a non-starter. Compared to optimized stationary applications, or the amount of power one obtains from even a level-1 charger, it is rather minimal, but that's not the point.
An array covering the model 3 would yield about 2-3 kWh a day in optional conditions. It's a tiny amount, but not insignificant, especially when factored against the longevity of such a car.
Decades ago the university of Queensland built a solar car that would add 12k km a year just parked in the sun. A recent German startup has also taken this route and is doing very well.
So, although solar on a car may at first seem impractical, it isn't in all cases, and the engineering involved is far from complex.
If integrated from the factory the cost would also be utterly negligible.
I can see integrated solar both on the skin of the car and windows as being normal in the future; that along with entire building envelopes.
If the look, the cost, the longevity and complexity have all been solved, then it would be illogical to not include solar.

Sigh... I knew I shouldn't say anything. I was mostly referring to people who are trying to retrofit panels on an existing EV when I was talking about engineering costs. I agree that a manufacturer could add it without undue development costs. That 12km per year car was a almost assuredly a purpose built ultralight solar car, not anything practical for roadways. I suspect for a practical car, the number would be a half to a quarter of that. Nor do I think your "optimal" estimate of 2-3 kWh is useful for most people's circumstances, and even if I stipulated it was, I'm sure that we'd be better off putting the solar over parking areas, putting in more EV charging infrastructure, and charging the car off solar generated power once it's parked. After all, a Supercharger can add whatever you might have generated during your drive in a minute...even L2 could do it in under 10 min.

 

[coleAK]

I'm picturing a Mars rover with solar panels strapped to the top ala Mark Watney.

 

[TJKR]

This idea is slightly better than the Gilligan's Island solution. Bicycle with a generator. You'd just need to peddle for 12 hours to get about 4 miles. Even better....
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