And as for our technical view of the R80, we’ve had this to offer.
In short, a Lightweight Performance Pack, DC Fast Charging and possibly Water Cooling are the winning trifecta for Roadster longevity.
Regardless of whether the R80’s days are numbered, Roadster owners are betting on the wrong horse.
——-
Battery Clinic: Bloat vs. Performance
A Roadster owner spoke to us the other day to better understand the performance advantages of the Roadster packs we're developing. In short we explained, the R80 is totally overburdened for the drivetrain it's supplying power to, and here's why.
Let's start with the drivetrain on the Roadster as a given - despite the cooling issues, the drive unit on the Roadster is actually quite well matched for the task at hand. Delivering 290 hp and 295 lb ft of torque the Roadster's drive train is equivalent to Lotus' Cup series cars, renowned for their handling and track performance. While they may never win the 1/4 mile, they have what it takes to perform on the track. In a word, they have what we call ‘hustle’ - not the fastest on the straightaways, but otherwise great lap times.
Let's talk next then about range. Despite its larger capacity, the R80 is the wrong solution for range. A bold statement, but the real issue for the Roadster is the lack of DC Fast Charging, not the size of the pack. As many R80 owners have found out, despite the convenience of longer times between top-ups, road trips are still painfully difficult - once that first charge has been used up, they still face the same rinse cycle of charge and repeat. And why lug around all that excess weight, for such little benefit? Solve DC Fast Charging, you solve the Roadster’s range problem.
Now… let's talk about how you size a pack for performance. Ideally, a battery pack should deliver both energy density and power density. Despite the limitations of its battery chemistry, the original Roadster packs actually did this well - they provided a more than respectable 240 miles of range with a drive train that matched the pack’s available power density. The original packs were configured to deliver up to 600 amps or about 4 times their rated capacity of 150 Ah, or what battery engineers call 4C. You can run higher, but 4C is a good reasonable number in terms of power density. Take for example the original Model S, delivering up to 825 Amps, the base model consumed up to 4C of pack's rated capacity, with the performance version consuming up to 1150 Amps, or 5C of the pack's rated capacity. Later variants and upgrades would take advantage of more and more power delivery, with Ludicrous+ mode consuming between 1500-1800 Amps (!) and topping out at 6.2C of the pack’s rated capacity.
So, all things being equal, this 4C-6.2C range becomes your ideal match between the size of your pack and the drive train. 4C delivers ‘spirited' driving and performance, and for short bursts, 6.2C delivers 'ludicrous' performance.
So what about the R80? Well, because it’s so oversized for the Roadster's existing drive train, the most it is ever asked to deliver is an anemic 2.6C of its rated capacity... 2.6C, that’s it. The drive unit on the Roadster could be dying from heatstroke (probably from lugging around all that extra weight…) meanwhile the R80 would barely be breaking a sweat. Talk about the very definition of bloated.
Not surprising then, our two pack configurations are designed to work in that 4C-6.2C range, the longer-range version topping out at a manageable 4.4C, while the lightweight track version tops out at 6.2C. And less weight, means less load on the drive unit; lower loads mean cooler temps, faster response and better handling.
This is how you design a performance battery pack for the Roadster.
In short, a Lightweight Performance Pack, DC Fast Charging and possibly Water Cooling are the winning trifecta for Roadster longevity.
Regardless of whether the R80’s days are numbered, Roadster owners are betting on the wrong horse.
——-
Battery Clinic: Bloat vs. Performance
A Roadster owner spoke to us the other day to better understand the performance advantages of the Roadster packs we're developing. In short we explained, the R80 is totally overburdened for the drivetrain it's supplying power to, and here's why.
Let's start with the drivetrain on the Roadster as a given - despite the cooling issues, the drive unit on the Roadster is actually quite well matched for the task at hand. Delivering 290 hp and 295 lb ft of torque the Roadster's drive train is equivalent to Lotus' Cup series cars, renowned for their handling and track performance. While they may never win the 1/4 mile, they have what it takes to perform on the track. In a word, they have what we call ‘hustle’ - not the fastest on the straightaways, but otherwise great lap times.
Let's talk next then about range. Despite its larger capacity, the R80 is the wrong solution for range. A bold statement, but the real issue for the Roadster is the lack of DC Fast Charging, not the size of the pack. As many R80 owners have found out, despite the convenience of longer times between top-ups, road trips are still painfully difficult - once that first charge has been used up, they still face the same rinse cycle of charge and repeat. And why lug around all that excess weight, for such little benefit? Solve DC Fast Charging, you solve the Roadster’s range problem.
Now… let's talk about how you size a pack for performance. Ideally, a battery pack should deliver both energy density and power density. Despite the limitations of its battery chemistry, the original Roadster packs actually did this well - they provided a more than respectable 240 miles of range with a drive train that matched the pack’s available power density. The original packs were configured to deliver up to 600 amps or about 4 times their rated capacity of 150 Ah, or what battery engineers call 4C. You can run higher, but 4C is a good reasonable number in terms of power density. Take for example the original Model S, delivering up to 825 Amps, the base model consumed up to 4C of pack's rated capacity, with the performance version consuming up to 1150 Amps, or 5C of the pack's rated capacity. Later variants and upgrades would take advantage of more and more power delivery, with Ludicrous+ mode consuming between 1500-1800 Amps (!) and topping out at 6.2C of the pack’s rated capacity.
So, all things being equal, this 4C-6.2C range becomes your ideal match between the size of your pack and the drive train. 4C delivers ‘spirited' driving and performance, and for short bursts, 6.2C delivers 'ludicrous' performance.
So what about the R80? Well, because it’s so oversized for the Roadster's existing drive train, the most it is ever asked to deliver is an anemic 2.6C of its rated capacity... 2.6C, that’s it. The drive unit on the Roadster could be dying from heatstroke (probably from lugging around all that extra weight…) meanwhile the R80 would barely be breaking a sweat. Talk about the very definition of bloated.
Not surprising then, our two pack configurations are designed to work in that 4C-6.2C range, the longer-range version topping out at a manageable 4.4C, while the lightweight track version tops out at 6.2C. And less weight, means less load on the drive unit; lower loads mean cooler temps, faster response and better handling.
This is how you design a performance battery pack for the Roadster.
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