To this car, of course, of course, there has been a rather controversial attitude lately. Many people discuss what he is, others. There are people who consider the Tesla car an excellent element of a PR campaign, built on the sale of something that has existed for a long time, but it never occurred to anyone to make a car out of this, and it has few prospects of the type and even exists
But let's leave this controversy "overboard" and look at the main element of this car - the batteries. There were people who were not too lazy and did not squeeze a certain amount of money and took and sawed off the battery from the car.
This is how it looked
Tesla Motors is the creator of truly revolutionary eco-vehicles, which are not only mass-produced, but also have unique characteristics that allow them to be used literally every day. Today we take a look inside the battery of a Tesla Model S electric car, find out how it works and reveal the magic of this battery's success.
According to the North American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Model S only needs a single charge of 85 kWh batteries to travel more than 400 km, which is the most significant indicator among similar vehicles on the specialized market. To accelerate to 100 km / h, the electric car needs only 4.4 seconds.
The key to the success of this model is the availability of lithium-ion batteries, the main components of which are supplied for Tesla by Panasonic. Tesla batteries are steeped in legends. And therefore, one of the owners of such a battery decided to violate its integrity and find out what it is inside. By the way, the cost of such a battery is 45,000 USD.
The battery is located in the underbody, giving Tesla a low center of gravity and excellent handling. It is attached to the body by means of brackets.
Tesla battery. We disassemble
The battery compartment is formed by 16 blocks, which are connected in parallel and shielded from the environment by means of metal plates, as well as a plastic cover that prevents the ingress of water.
Before completely disassembling it, the electrical voltage was measured, confirming the working condition of the battery.
The battery assembly is characterized by high density and precise fit of parts. The entire picking process takes place in a completely clean room, using robots.
Each block consists of 74 cells, very similar in appearance to simple finger-type batteries (Panasonic lithium-ion cells), divided into 6 groups. At the same time, it is almost impossible to find out the scheme of their placement and operation - this is a big secret, which means that it will be extremely difficult to make a replica of this battery. We are unlikely to see a Chinese analogue of the Tesla Model S battery!
The positive electrode is graphite, and the negative one is nickel, cobalt and alumina. The indicated amount of electrical voltage in the capsule is 3.6V.
The most powerful battery available (its volume is 85 kWh) consists of 7104 such batteries. And it weighs about 540 kg, and its parameters are 210 cm long, 150 cm wide and 15 cm thick. The amount of energy generated by just one unit out of 16 is equal to the amount produced by a hundred batteries from laptop computers.
When assembling its batteries, Tesla uses elements produced in various countries, such as India, China, Mexico, but the final revision and assembly are made in the United States. The company provides warranty service for its products for up to 8 years.
Thus, you learned what the Tesla Model S battery consists of and how it works.
Another interesting thing about Tesla: here's to you, and here's yourself
Tesla's new battery generation is being developed in a secret area
Alexander Klimnov, photo by Tesla and Teslarati.com
Today Tesla Inc. is working very hard on the next generation of its own batteries. They have to store significantly more energy and at the same time become much cheaper.
New batteries can begin to be used on a promising Tesla pickup
Californians were the ones who created the first high-power lithium-ion batteries suitable for mass production of electric vehicles, thus dramatically increasing their range. Back then, Tesla's first-born Roadster consisted of thousands of conventional laptop batteries, now lithium-ion batteries are being created specifically for electric vehicles. There are many manufacturers now making them, but Tesla's cutting-edge technology continues to keep it at the forefront of the energy-hungry battery segment. However, the first information about the next even more powerful generation of Tesla batteries began to leak into the world media.
Technological breakthrough through business acquisitions
The revolutionary leap in terms of Tesla's battery design development is likely to come from the acquisition of Tesla Inc. by Maxwell Technologies of San Diego. Maxwell manufactures supercapacitors (ionisters) and is actively researching solid-state (dry) electrode technology. According to Maxwell, using this technology, an energy capacity of 300 Wh / kg has already been achieved on prototypes of batteries. The challenge for the future is to break through to an energy intensity level of more than 500 Wh / kg. In addition, the production cost of solid-state batteries should be 10-20% lower than those currently used by Tesla with liquid electrolyte. The California-based company also announced another bonus - a predicted doubling of battery life. Thus, Tesla will be able to achieve the coveted 400-mile (643.6 km) range of its electric vehicles and achieve full competitiveness with conventional cars for price. 
The new supercar Tesla Roadster in 2020 will be able to reach the declared range of 640 km only on fundamentally new batteries
Tesla has planned its own battery production?German website for Auto motor und sport magazine reports persistent rumors about Tesla's deployment of its own battery production. Until now, the Japanese manufacturer Panasonic supplied battery cells (cells) to Californians - for Model S and Model X they are imported directly from Japan, and for Model 3 cells are produced at Gigafactory 1 in the US state of Nevada. Production at Gigafactory 1 is jointly operated by Panasonic and Tesla. Recently, however, this has led to huge controversy, as Panasonic apparently was disappointed with Tesla's sales figures, and also feared that the Californians would not expand the given battery production in the future.
The intrigue of the launch of the compact Tesla Model Y in 2020 was the source of the supply of batteries
In particular, the rhythmic supply of batteries for the Model Y announced already in the fall of 2020 has been questioned by Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Zuga. Currently, Panasonic has stopped its investment in Gigafactory 1 altogether. Tesla may want to become independent from the Japanese by developing its own production of battery cells.
Tesla is today a leader in high-capacity battery technology for electric vehicles, and Californians are determined to defend this fundamental competitive advantage. The acquisition of Maxwell Technologies may be a decisive step, but that depends on how far the San Diego technician has actually moved towards bringing revolutionary solid-state battery technology to market. 
If the revolutionary solid-state battery technology really takes place, then it is possible that the Tesla Semi electric tractor unit will become a bestseller in the cargo market, like the Model 3 in a passenger car.
So far, many automakers are setting themselves up to make their own battery cell production. It looks like Tesla wants to become more independent from its supplier Panasonic and is therefore also conducting research in this area.
With the availability of a sufficient number of revolutionary high-energy solid-state batteries, Tesla will gain a decisive advantage in the market and, finally, release the really cheap and long-range electric vehicles promised by its owner Elon Muskov for a long time, which will cause an avalanche-like growth of the BEV market.
According to CNBC sources, Tesla's secret laboratory is located in a separate building near the Tesla factory in Fremont (photo behind the splash screen). Earlier there were reports of a closed "laboratory zone" located on the second floor of the enterprise. The current battery division is probably the successor to that former laboratory, but even more classified. 
Tesla will be able to achieve a real breakthrough in the automotive market only if its line of models becomes even more "long-range" with a significant reduction in price
According to analysts at IHS Markit, the most expensive element of a modern electric vehicle is the battery, but it is not Tesla that gets most of the money for it, but Panasonic.
Insiders are not yet able to report on the real achievements of the secret Tesla laboratory. Elon Musk is expected to share it at the end of the year during a traditional conference call with investors.
Earlier it was reported that Tesla plans to sell 1,000 Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles per day. Tesla's current monthly record for Model 3 shipments is 90,700 EVs. If the company manages to deliver the planned number of electric vehicles in June, then this record could be broken.
Tesla Motors is the creator of truly revolutionary eco-vehicles, which are not only mass-produced, but also have unique characteristics that allow them to be used literally every day. Today we take a look inside the battery of a Tesla Model S electric car, find out how it works and reveal the magic of this battery's success.
According to the North American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Model S only needs a single charge of 85 kWh batteries to travel more than 400 km, which is the most significant indicator among similar vehicles on the specialized market. To accelerate to 100 km / h, the electric car needs only 4.4 seconds.
The key to the success of this model is the availability of lithium-ion batteries, the main components of which are supplied for Tesla by Panasonic. Tesla batteries are steeped in legends. And therefore, one of the owners of such a battery decided to violate its integrity and find out what it is inside. By the way, the cost of such a battery is 45,000 USD.
The battery is located in the underbody, giving Tesla a low center of gravity and excellent handling. It is attached to the body by means of brackets.
Tesla battery. We disassemble
The battery compartment is formed by 16 blocks, which are connected in parallel and shielded from the environment by means of metal plates, as well as a plastic cover that prevents the ingress of water.
Before completely disassembling it, the electrical voltage was measured, confirming the working condition of the battery.
The battery assembly is characterized by high density and precise fit of parts. The entire picking process takes place in a completely clean room, using robots.
Each block consists of 74 cells, very similar in appearance to simple finger-type batteries (Panasonic lithium-ion cells), divided into 6 groups. At the same time, it is almost impossible to find out the scheme of their placement and operation - this is a big secret, which means that it will be extremely difficult to make a replica of this battery. We are unlikely to see a Chinese analogue of the Tesla Model S battery!
The positive electrode is graphite, and the negative one is nickel, cobalt and alumina. ...
The most powerful battery available (its volume is 85 kWh) consists of 7104 such batteries. And it weighs about 540 kg, and its parameters are 210 cm long, 150 cm wide and 15 cm thick. The amount of energy generated by just one unit out of 16 is equal to the amount produced by a hundred batteries from laptop computers.
When assembling its batteries, Tesla uses elements produced in various countries, such as India, China, Mexico, but the final revision and assembly are made in the United States. The company provides warranty service for its products for up to 8 years.
Thus, you learned what the Tesla Model S battery consists of and how it works. We thank you for your attention!
We have partially covered the configuration of the battery Tesla model s with a capacity of 85 kW * h. As a reminder, the main battery element is the company's lithium-ion battery cell. Panasonic, 3400 mAh, 3.7 V.
Panasonic cell 18650
The figure shows a typical cell. In reality, Tesla's cells are slightly modified.
Cell data parallel connect in groups of 74... When connected in parallel, the voltage of the group is equal to the voltage of each of the elements (4.2 V), and the capacity of the group is equal to the sum of the capacities of the elements (250 Ah).
Further six groups connect sequentially into the module... In this case, the voltage of the module is summed up from the voltages of the groups and is equal to approximately 25 V (4.2 V * 6 groups). The capacity remains 250 Ah. Finally, modules are connected in series into a battery... The battery contains 16 modules in total (total 96 groups). In this case, the voltage of all modules is summed up and amounts to 400 V (16 modules * 25 V).
The load for this battery is an asynchronous electric drive with a maximum power of 310 kW. Since P = U * I, in the nominal mode at a voltage of 400 V, a current flows in the circuit I = P / U = 310,000 / 400 = 775 A. At first glance, it may seem that this is a crazy current for such a "battery". However, do not forget that with a parallel connection according to the first Kirchhoff's law I = I1 + I2 +… In, where n is the number of parallel branches. In our case, n = 74. Since we consider the internal resistances of the cells inside the group to be conditionally equal, then the currents in them will be the same. Accordingly, a current flows directly through the cell In = I / n = 775/74 = 10.5 A.
Is it a lot or a little? Good or bad? In order to answer these questions, let us turn to the discharge characteristic of a lithium-ion battery. American craftsmen disassembled the battery and carried out a series of tests. In particular, the figure shows oscillograms of voltages during the discharge of a cell taken from a real Tesla model s, currents: 1A, 3A, 10A.
The spike on the 10A curve is caused by manually switching the load to 3A. The author of the experiment solved one more problem in parallel, we will not dwell on it.
As can be seen from the figure, a discharge with a current of 10 A fully satisfies the requirements for cell voltage. This mode corresponds to a 3C curve discharge. It should be noted that we took the most critical case when the engine power is at its maximum. In reality, taking into account the very use of a two-motor drive with an optimal gear ratio of gearboxes, the car will operate with a discharge of 2 ... 4 A (1C). Only at moments of very sharp acceleration, when driving uphill at high speed, the cell current can peak at 12 ... 14 A.
What other benefits does it provide? For a given load in the case of a direct current, the cross-section of the copper conductor can be chosen 2 mm.kv. Tesla motors kills two birds with one stone. All connecting conductors also function as fuses. Accordingly, there is no need to use an expensive protection system, additionally to use fuses. The connecting conductors themselves melt in the event of an overcurrent due to the small cross-section and prevent an emergency. We wrote about this in more detail.
In the figure, the conductors 507 are the same connectors.
Finally, consider the last issue that is exciting the minds of our time, and causing a wave of controversy. Why does Tesla use lithium-ion batteries?
I will make a reservation right away that I will express my subjective opinion on this particular issue. You can disagree with him)
Let's carry out a comparative analysis of different types of batteries.
Obviously, the lithium-ion battery has the highest specific rates to date. The best battery in terms of energy density and weight / size ratio does not yet exist in mass production, alas. That is why in Tesle it turned out to make such a balanced battery, providing a cruising range of up to 500 km.
The second reason, in my opinion, is marketing. All the same, on average, the resource of such cells is about 500 charge-discharge cycles. This means that with active use of the car, you will have to replace the battery after a maximum of two years. Although, the company really does.
Tesla unveiled home batteries at the end of April. What is this: another revolution from an American corporation or a logical link on the way to building a smart and independent home? Let's figure it out together.
Elon Musk can rightfully be called a revolutionary in the world of technology. Even 10 years ago, few believed that electric cars would hit the mass market, and today the Tesla Model S is a sedan that every car enthusiast would love to own. An alternative to the gasoline engine was found long ago, but for a long time no one dared to “break the whole industry”.
The issue of production and consumption of electricity in the XXI century is especially acute. Today the existence of humanity literally depends on it. The traditional classification of energy production has two global ramifications:
- commercial mining: coal, oil shale, oil, gas (in fact, they are the basis of modern energy, covering 90% of the total demands from enterprises and the population), nuclear, hydro, geothermal, solar, wave and tidal stations.
- mining from non-commercial sources: agricultural and industrial waste, muscle strength, firewood.
Despite the fuel crisis that made headlines in the early 1970s, almost 50 years later, little has changed in the way electricity is produced. The population is growing, the potential need for electricity is growing, and as a result, the planet is becoming more and more polluted. And one can argue about what will come earlier - an energy crisis or an environmental disaster, but the best way out of this situation is a radical revision of the entire energy-extracting industry and the principles of providing the population with electricity.
Tesla Energy and Infrastructure
On April 30, Elon Musk will present a solution that should have a beneficial effect not only on the environment, but also on the wallets of consumers. Tesla powerwall cares about the environment by dramatically reducing carbon dioxide emissions and eliminating the hefty energy bills. We will deal with the last point a little later, but for now let's look at the world that Tesla offers us.
The idea of accumulating electricity and autonomous supply of houses is not a novelty. Many owners of country cottages have covered the roofs of their homes with solar panels, providing food with the help of lead acid batteries... And here is the first advantage of the Tesla Powerwall.
The number of charge-discharge cycles of a lead-acid battery barely reaches 800, while a lithium-ion battery boasts 1000-1200 cycles. In terms of weight-capacity ratio, a lithium-ion battery is almost 5 times higher than a lead-acid battery. This is what allowed Tesla to create a catchy design for its new product line.
Design and form factor... Yes, a person's opinion about any product depends on its appearance. Rounded edges, minimum thickness (by the standards of competing products) of the case, the availability of an assortment of colors. Without even delving into the principles of the Tesla Powerwall, you begin to think about how it would complement your garage. Tesla Powerwall is wall-mounted and takes up minimal space.
Holistic ecosystem... The presented Tesla Powerwall batteries are supplied in two modifications with a capacity of 7 and 10 kWh at a price of $3000 and $3500 respectively. If the consumer feels a clear lack of capacity, he can always supplement the arsenal of batteries with the purchase of one more, thereby increasing the total capacity up to 90 kW * h (up to 9 batteries can be connected). Connection does not require a thorough study of the principles of building power grids: one cable solves all problems.
Enterprise and business solution... Together with Powerwall, a product was presented that can solve the problem of supplying factories, plants and the whole industry - batteries Tesla powerpack... Their feature is the ability to endlessly build up potential capacity up to several Gigawatt * h.
Plans for a full alternative electrification. Elon Musk is a person who is used to thinking globally. That is why the presentation of Tesla batteries does not pursue the sole purpose of selling the product to a limited circle of interested users. We are talking about large-scale and total electrification of the entire planet Earth using batteries. To supply the entire planet with enough energy from Tesla 900 million batteries Powerpack.
Concern for the environment, a complete rejection of the production of electricity, the source of which will be exhaustible natural resources leading to the release of harmful substances into the atmosphere and the complete autonomy of any, even the most remote corner of the planet - all these are the realities of today. But until the moment (if at all) a global transition to electricity drawn from the sun, wind, tides and accumulated in batteries, a potential buyer is interested in the question: is the acquisition of Tesla Powerwall profitable today?
Dry numbers
So let's calculate the economic feasibility of purchasing an innovative product from Tesla. Is it worth it and how will payback behave in the conditions of Russia and the United States?
Payment conditions:
- Let's take the daily electricity consumption of the Tesla Powerwall owner equal 10 kW, i.e. the full capacity of the battery is enough for a day of consumption;
- Tesla Powerwall cost - $3 500 , which at the rate current at the time of publication of these calculations is 175,000 rubles(taking into account rounding and at the rate of 50.01 rubles per $ 1);
- to the cost of Tesla Powerwall we add the need to purchase an inverter, the cost of which is about $ 1,500 - 75,000 rubles;
- we will take into account the losses when connecting Tesla Powerwall in the chain battery - current converter - inverter... General The system efficiency will be 87%... Those. initially, not 10 kW * h are available to the consumer, but only 8.7.
- with two-zone tariffication (“day / night” tariffs), we will assume the daily energy consumption at the level of 5 kW * h (57.5% of the maximum resource of Tesla Powerwall), and the evening one - at the level of 3.7 kW * h (42.5%) ...
Situation in the USA:
On the territory of the United States there is two-zone tariff on payment of electricity:
- From 14:00 to 19:00 the cost of 1 kW * h of electricity is $ 0.2032 (10.16 rubles).
From 19:00 to 14:00 the cost drops sharply to $ 0.0463 (2.31 rubles) per 1 kW * h.
With a consumption of 5 kW * h during the day and 3.7 kW * h at the "night" time, the daily costs when using a standard power grid will be:
5 kW * h * 10.16 rubles + 3.7 kW * h * 2.31 rubles = 50.82 rubles + 8.54 rubles = 59.36 rubles / day.
59.34 rubles * 365 days = 21 659 rubles per year.
A standard lithium-ion battery loses about 6% (0.6 kW) of its original capacity (i.e. 10 kW) per year. Every year its capacity will decrease and after 3-4 years only one Tesla Powerwall will not be enough. Here are some rough calculations of how the battery will behave over time.
Years of operation: the maximum battery life is 15 years.
Maximum capacity: decreases by 6% (0.6 kW) of the original capacity every year.
Electricity cost: calculated from the ratio of day / night rates at the above prices.
Saving: how much Tesla Powerwall saves per year.
Waste for additional energy: we agreed that we consume 8.7 kW per day. The lack of electricity (caused by the degradation of the battery) is compensated by the public power grid.
For 15 years of use, even without taking into account the waste on additional energy, Tesla Powerwall doesn't pay off... Considering that the cost of kW * hour of electricity in Russia is about 60% lower, it is hardly worth talking about the advisability of such an acquisition. Let me remind you that the purchase of the Tesla Powerwall kit cost 250,000 rubles, and this does not include solar panels.
Reflections
Tesla's non-volatile solution is the right vision for a future free of emissions and ruthless use of natural resources. Alas, for the end consumer, the cost declared on the Tesla Powerwall will not be an economically viable acquisition. The purchase of a battery will need to add the "price of incense and candles" in the form of solar panels, a converter and an inverter, and the degradation of lithium-ion batteries is simply will not cover the initial costs... But if you are ready to invest in the future, ready to take a step towards the "green planet" and the price of the issue is not decisive - the time for Tesla Powerwall has already come for you.
And do not forget that disposal of any battery also costs money. Sometimes they are not insignificant.
