2170s for the Model S soon [Speculation]

[gilscales]

Tesla acquires super cap company Maxwell

 

[FlatSix911]

2170 Batteries appear unlikely... Tesla acquires ultracapacitor and battery manufacturer for over $200 million

Tesla CEO Elon Musk first moved to California in the 90s in order to do a PhD on ultracapacitors, but he quickly stopped to start an internet company. The technology has never been adopted by electric vehicle manufacturers who favored Li-ion batteries.

But Tesla’s acquisition of Maxwell might have little to do with ultracapacitors. The automaker might be more interested with Maxwell’s dry electrode technology that they have been hyping recently. Maxwell claims that its electrode enables an energy density of over 300 Wh/kg in current demonstration cells and they see a path to over 500 Wh/kg.

This would represent a significant improvement over current battery cells used by Tesla and enable longer range or lighter weight, but that’s not even the most attractive benefit of Maxwell’s dry electrode. They claim that it should simplify the manufacturing process and result in a “10 to 20% cost reduction versus state-of-the-art wet electrodes” while “extending battery Life up to a factor of 2.”

 

[ucmndd]

Tesla acquires ultracapacitor and battery manufacturer for over $200 million

Hmm, related?

In 3-5 years? Absolutely.

 

[henderrj]

In 3-5 years? Absolutely.

I think you are correct. Will Tesla really wait that long before updating the S?

 

[cityberty]

I think you are correct. Will Tesla really wait that long before updating the S?

If the competition is still crap then probably. But it looks like the interior and MCU will be updated before then

 

[scaesare]

I'm positive I believe that!
The issue, as I understand it, is that the rotor heats up. It is cooled, but only from the center shaft (co-axial coolant flow).

Mid point of discussion:
General Discussion: 2018 Investor Roundtable

This is my understanding as well.

 

[OPRCE]

I'm positive I believe that!
The issue, as I understand it, is that the rotor heats up. It is cooled, but only from the center shaft (co-axial coolant flow).

Mid point of discussion:
General Discussion: 2018 Investor Roundtable

Whereas Tesla has a patent for hollow rotor cooling of ACIM, is there any actual evidence this expensive/failure-prone design ever made it into production?

OTOH the MS internal diagnostics screen depicts the liquid cooling loop going through stator only, and if the rotor were also actively cooled methinks the motor should never have suffered from the heat fade issue:

 

[MP3Mike]

Whereas Tesla has a patent for hollow rotor cooling of ACIM, is there any actual evidence this expensive/failure-prone design ever made it into production?

Yes, people have taken the motors apart and showed how the coolant flows through the rotor. But even doing that they can only cool so much with the contact just in the center.

OTOH the MS internal diagnostics screen depicts the liquid cooling loop going through stator only, and if the rotor were also actively cooled methinks the motor should never have suffered from the heat fade issue:

It looks pretty clear to me that the rotor is listed as part of the cooling. (It even looks like the temperature is shown.) Or are you saying the Trans doesn't get any cooling either?

 

[mongo]

Whereas Tesla has a patent for hollow rotor cooling of ACIM, is there any actual evidence this expensive/failure-prone design ever made it into production?

OTOH the MS internal diagnostics screen depicts the liquid cooling loop going through stator only, and if the rotor were also actively cooled methinks the motor should never have suffered from the heat fade issue:
View attachment 374794

That is just a block diagram illustration, not the real plumbing details.
Here is a nice close up pic of the actual rotor by Tinou Bao from Charged EVs | Q&A with Tesla’s lead motor engineer (Full Interview)

Note the hollow shaft on the non drive end.

 

[OPRCE]

Yes, people have taken the motors apart and showed how the coolant flows through the rotor. But even doing that they can only cool so much with the contact just in the center.

That is just a block diagram illustration, not the real plumbing details.

You're both right, thanks for the correction! Just discovered that Jack Rickards did a very instructive MS motor teardown video in 2017.

Here is his cooling schematic -- coolant flows in and out through the same hollow end of the rotor axle:

@MP3Mike
It looks pretty clear to me that the rotor is listed as part of the cooling. (It even looks like the temperature is shown.)

Right again, I somehow managed to overlook that rotor coolant temp is reading 4x stator coolant temp!

 

[mongo]

You're both right, thanks for the correction! Just discovered that Jack Rickards did a very instructive MS motor teardown video in 2017.

Here is his cooling schematic -- coolant flows in and out through the same hollow end of the rotor axle:
View attachment 374886

@MP3Mike
It looks pretty clear to me that the rotor is listed as part of the cooling. (It even looks like the temperature is shown.)

Right again, I somehow managed to overlook that rotor coolant temp is reading 4x stator coolant temp!

Thanks for the video link!