New Battery Range & Pack Architecture [Announced at Battery Day]

[ldjessee]

My Leaf's range is just below 50% in the cold.
We keep it in an insulated garage, so even when it is -20F outside, it is above freezing in the garage.
I think the coldest we drove it was -15F, and the car had less than 50 miles of useable range (my Leaf has the better heater). It was still more than enough to go back and forth to work for 2 days before needing to charge it when it was warmer (0F outside, 45F in the garage).

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[Crissa]

My Leaf's range is just below 50% in the cold.

Same for my Zero.

But Tesla cars maintain their pack temperature independently unlike the passively maintained Leaf and Zero. You leave it out in the cold and it will try to keep itself in moving shape unless you've set it to storage mode,

-Crissa

 

[ldjessee]

Watching the Long Way Up, they also discovered that keeping their bikes warm improved their performance the next day (and let them charge).

 

[fritter63]

Watching the Long Way Up, they also discovered that keeping their bikes warm improved their performance the next day (and let them charge).

Ugh, so far it has been a horrible “witness “ for EVs, although I blame Harley for not implementing charging correctly.

Fun show though, even bigger fan of Ewan McGreagor. And charley makes me feel good about how I’m aging (3 years older than him).

 

[Crissa]

There is a blog (and book) called Zero Below Zero which was written about riding a Zero electric motorcycle through the Minnesota winter. Would've told them all of this.

Charging is a big problem for a motorcycle because AC Level 2 chargers are heavy and bulky. Motorcycles just don't have the space for lots of bulk. An Energica just says heck with it and is just really heavy for their power. Harley went the other way and put a light Level 2 charger on their bike (like Zero did, although they have the Charge Tank and add-ons which let them charge at a high Level 2 rate like a Tesla... But they don't have DC charging).

Once the DC charging infrastructure is in place, you won't need that bulky on-board AC charger and could save the weight and space and focus on DC charging which only needs battery thermal control. But it is much more specialized and would not have worked for this trek. (Hence the Livewires only charging at Level 1 through the show).

-Crissa

 

[TI4Dan]

Look at the Dakotas and North of that, Winnipeg, not west to Banff. The weather easily surpasses -30c in the winter. With the windchill it exceeds -30c easily & often. Last year we had days that hit -40C with the windchill. This is about the loss of range in cold weather, which can exceed 45% & more during those conditions. Been here for 62 years & it gets COLD, obviously colder then where your located Crissa.

I agree with you on the temperatures of Dakotas, traveled there to do a job and my first day in the month of January was -27F.
Truck key would open door it was frozen and my battery of less than a year old would not start my truck. I looked up US climate data for where I live in Montana it listed my town with an average of 34F low. I thought if you come dressed for 34F you will want a real Jacket and thermo's. I live in the banana belt and it's common to see -15F here. We don't see 34F until the spring thaw. I am concerned with the battery capacity drop in CT. Dual motor with 300 mile range. I drive a hundred miles one way to shop with no supercharger were I travel yet. 34F weather is T shirt and pendleton shirt, at 20F with light wind time for a jacket....stay warm my friend this winter.

 

[fritter63]

There is a blog (and book) called Zero Below Zero which was written about riding a Zero electric motorcycle through the Minnesota winter. Would've told them all of this.

Charging is a big problem for a motorcycle because AC Level 2 chargers are heavy and bulky. Motorcycles just don't have the space for lots of bulk. An Energica just says heck with it and is just really heavy for their power. Harley went the other way and put a light Level 2 charger on their bike (like Zero did, although they have the Charge Tank and add-ons which let them charge at a high Level 2 rate like a Tesla... But they don't have DC charging).

Once the DC charging infrastructure is in place, you won't need that bulky on-board AC charger and could save the weight and space and focus on DC charging which only needs battery thermal control. But it is much more specialized and would not have worked for this trek. (Hence the Livewires only charging at Level 1 through the show).

-Crissa

Great info , thanks!

But I’m still not ready to give up my old Harley....potato potato potato. ?

 

[Ike_Lee]

Why do you want 750 miles from a single charge? No one drives that far without stopping. Wouldn't it be better to have a 500 mile pack that charges in 10 min?

When you tow something heavy your distance will drop based on the weight and aerodynamics of what you tow. Could drop by 50-60% with an electric, add on to that cold weather and elevation changes... I would take a 750 mile pack any day.

 

[Red61224]

well, it is a fact that long-distance drives take a good amount longer even with tesla supercharging.
I have family in Nevada 8 hours away, 500 miles, we do it in about 8.5 hours every time, stopping usually 3 times for about 10-15 minutes each time.

I've never done a tesla trip, as I don't own one, but I would think that a trip would take around 10 hours some1 please correct me if I'm way off.

Check this out. You will be encouraged

https://insideevs.com/news/362922/tesla-model-3-new-ev-cannonball-run-record/

 

[lqdchkn]

Wow! You people up in "snow land" sure have it bad!

My personal scale:
40F = F'ing cold - like, don't go outside if you don't have to!
60F = winter wonderland (wear a jacket!)
75F = Room temperature with A/C

70-115F Is nice outside - get outside and play!

Hahaha! I'm 52, lived in the southern US with no A/C (didn't use A/C until about 26yoa). And, I've worked outside for much of my life. So, hot weather is normal to me. It's cool/cold at night (sleepy time). And, I wear long sleeve shirts/jeans until the normal day temps get to about 80F.

You left out the 78-89 humidity kinda sucks range above or below there it's not really noticeable.

 

[MO Truck]

When it's -30c below you'll loose 40 to 50% of your capacity is why.

They use the battery range as a way to drive sales to higher optioned models.

Kind of for the same reason you fill your gas tank up you may not drive 450 miles but you could you don't have to worry about getting more

 

[Billyboy]

If you understand how to wire a house, powering a house load from the Cybertruck 240v outlet will be easy, if you have room for an additional double Breaker in your main panel.
Max amps is set by the Cybertruck.

Of course you don’t allow your power going out to the grid, that would endanger linemen. I installed a manual lock out transfer switch 20 years ago, as grid was unreliable, use a backup Propane water cooled Koehler generator.
Cybertruck 240V outlet could do the same thing. Depends on your loads.

 

[DryCabin]

For most people it's rarely -30 and indeed better thermal management means it is easier to warm the cells as well as cool them.

Some of us live in Alaska, and need to have a functional, drive-able truck between communities in the winter. We need a truck that can be used like a work truck. This is what we are hoping for in the cyber truck.

 

[Turtle]

More range the better, but faster charging times are important too. I want it all. Lol. The question I keep getting when I say I’m buying a Cybertruck. What if you want to go on a long car trips? It’ll take 3 times as long if you drive an electric on a long trip. I try to explain you have to figure out charging points and hotels now have charging stations too. People look at me like I’m speaking another language. Anyone else have this?

I watched the Battery Day presentation, and understood Elon to indicate that high nickel batteries would be used in the new Semi and the Cyber Truck. This would lead me to believe the new 4680 battery would indeed be used in the Cyber Truck.
With the new tables design which allows the electrons to flow out , or discharge the battery faster, one assume the battery would have similar characteristics when charging.
I believe Tesla is working right now on the means to charge the CT faster than current methods.

As for range: I believe it is KING!

I also believe with the new 4680 battery we should see close to the 50 percent increase in range due to the new design and integration into the Exoskeleton frame. I believe this will happen, and I believe it will happen by the time the CT comes out later next year. I see this happening because Tesla is already making these batteries by the tens of thousands now.

One thing Tesla was quiet about was the expected battery life. I think that was smart. However, one might think since the new 4680 will be structurally part of the vehicle it should last a very long time. Let’s say maybe a million miles? Who knows? Stranger things have happened when Tesla is involved!

 

[zxylene]

I don't get all the comments about range I guess a lot of long haul travelers. I do get and understand towing it will likely decrease range 40% maybe 50% but for me and many people I know I tow a trailer over 150 miles never and if I needed to do that a 15 min stop to charge would not be a big deal. I have standard range model 3 and I rarely charge it above 60% for daily driving 70 mile commute and various store and sports trips for kids. I drove to FL from PA for the first time in my life. (always fly) it was a great trip with wife and kids the stops broke up the hungry and bathroom breaks and the car was ready before us every time. We drove to Tenn a normal don't drink anything and hope you don't have to pee so you can drive almost straight to a great non stressful trip. We also went to OC, MD 2 times and we could have drove without charging barely, we still stopped for food and bathroom. This is the most we have ever traveled in one summer. Normally it is one trip to beach (drive) visit friends in Tenn every couple years (drive) and normally any trip over 6 hours driving or so we fly. It could be a group of people that drive long drive straight thru alot. but I think for most people that in reality is rare and a few 15 - 20 min stops would not hurt or might happen anyhow. I drove a good bit we got the car in April and have over 13,000 mile on it already. And because of the stuff going on our usual sports tournaments and commutes are way less I would say easily half of what we normally drive. Normally put on about 40,000 miles a year.