It looks like they are not just redesigning the battery and battery packs, but the whole manufacturing process for the battery and car as well.
Tesla's new battery tech
- Thread starter begreen
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Just took a look, nice video synopsis.
As you know, I never loved the idea that Tesla had all this amazing 'battery tech' that they were 'giving away' 5 or so years ago....they were buying commodity cells and sticking them in a box with some hoses and potting compound. Which is what a **startup** has to do.
The video shows what I consider to be a very mature R&D strategy for a large, multi-national industrial enterprise. And I daresay that none of the other automakers have the 'comfort' with battery tech to take this approach...they will push it onto their subcontractors in East Asia (some with satellite plants in MI).
They show a learning curve plot at the end, which they say Tesla will create an inflection point on. The history of tech does not suggest this outcome. I would assume that SOME of the innovations (maybe most) that they outlined in the video will work out, but some won't. And additional innovation will appear in the near future. This is Tesla's strategic plan for batteries, but rather than it all coming together in the next '18 mos, maybe by 2023', which is classic Musk timeline optimism, it is more likely that this will be a constant process between now and 2030.
In other words, this is what R&D looks like in everything....they didn't invent this....its already baked into the learning curve cost reduction that Tesla AND their competitors are doing this, all the time. This is what innovation in a large industry (like Li-ion batteries) looks like under the hood. Not some tinkerer in a garage, or a kid in a basement dreaming up an new app. This is the kind os multi-billion dollar innnovation effort that large multi-nationals in the US used to do all the time decades ago at Bell Labs and Exxon Research Labs. And which Intel still does in Oregon. But since the 1980s very few US companies have made this kind of effort, preferring instead to look at financial engineering (look at GE) and subcontracting it out. This is why so many innovations in photonics and electronics (LED lighting and Flat Screens and photovoltaics) were developed in East Asia and Europe.
So its really good to see a US company with a huge pile of cash doing this work. And seeing it as mission critical.
Its also what SpaceX is doing btw.
And this is why I am a fan of Elon the engineer/industrialist, if not the man. Just like Ford or Edison, who achieved great, transformational things, while being terrible people with great PR.
As you know, I never loved the idea that Tesla had all this amazing 'battery tech' that they were 'giving away' 5 or so years ago....they were buying commodity cells and sticking them in a box with some hoses and potting compound. Which is what a **startup** has to do.
The video shows what I consider to be a very mature R&D strategy for a large, multi-national industrial enterprise. And I daresay that none of the other automakers have the 'comfort' with battery tech to take this approach...they will push it onto their subcontractors in East Asia (some with satellite plants in MI).
They show a learning curve plot at the end, which they say Tesla will create an inflection point on. The history of tech does not suggest this outcome. I would assume that SOME of the innovations (maybe most) that they outlined in the video will work out, but some won't. And additional innovation will appear in the near future. This is Tesla's strategic plan for batteries, but rather than it all coming together in the next '18 mos, maybe by 2023', which is classic Musk timeline optimism, it is more likely that this will be a constant process between now and 2030.
In other words, this is what R&D looks like in everything....they didn't invent this....its already baked into the learning curve cost reduction that Tesla AND their competitors are doing this, all the time. This is what innovation in a large industry (like Li-ion batteries) looks like under the hood. Not some tinkerer in a garage, or a kid in a basement dreaming up an new app. This is the kind os multi-billion dollar innnovation effort that large multi-nationals in the US used to do all the time decades ago at Bell Labs and Exxon Research Labs. And which Intel still does in Oregon. But since the 1980s very few US companies have made this kind of effort, preferring instead to look at financial engineering (look at GE) and subcontracting it out. This is why so many innovations in photonics and electronics (LED lighting and Flat Screens and photovoltaics) were developed in East Asia and Europe.
So its really good to see a US company with a huge pile of cash doing this work. And seeing it as mission critical.
Its also what SpaceX is doing btw.
And this is why I am a fan of Elon the engineer/industrialist, if not the man. Just like Ford or Edison, who achieved great, transformational things, while being terrible people with great PR.
This might not be 100% relevant to this thread, but I'll share anyway in case anyone has questions.
We had a couple of Tesla PowerWalls installed in our home this January and they've been amazing. Not only do we have instant and completely Silent *whole house* backup during outages, but the utility is able to draw from them during peak demand periods to help lower their generation costs in those expensive situations.
*Our Heat Pumps & electric dryer are not backed up since their high demand would potentially drain the batteries too quickly
We had a couple of Tesla PowerWalls installed in our home this January and they've been amazing. Not only do we have instant and completely Silent *whole house* backup during outages, but the utility is able to draw from them during peak demand periods to help lower their generation costs in those expensive situations.
*Our Heat Pumps & electric dryer are not backed up since their high demand would potentially drain the batteries too quickly
Similar threads
