raymond
Member
Wasn't that the accident that happened in France? It was a Tesla rep who was driving, and a potential customer got injured?
Yes: Tesla Roadster Has Fastest Crash Yet In France - Tesla Crash - Jalopnik
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Wasn't that the accident that happened in France? It was a Tesla rep who was driving, and a potential customer got injured?
If a report in the Times of London is accurate, it would go a long way toward explaining Nissan's claims that the Leaf electric car will be profitable at just $33,000. The report, which focuses mainly on Nissan executive Andy Palmer, states that the 24 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack for the EV costs only £6,000 (about $9,000) to produce. That works out to just $375 per kWh, a figure that no one else in the industry is currently claiming is possible.
I am thinking it may be a good idea of Tesla to officially offer a new battery pack for the Tesla Roadster. It seems that the biggest concern for most people is the battery cost. If Tesla were to offer one, ideally with a slightly higher capacity, it would take a lot of unknowns out of the equation. Since it is likely costs have dropped and we know the new Panasonic cells now have 20% more capacity I think they could offer a pack with more capacity. Even if they sold them for $30,000 and boasted a 260 mile range they would show to people that A) costs are dropping since initially they said the cost was $36,000 and B) range will get better.
With this unknown out of the way, it should help Tesla to sell the upcoming Model S.
What do you think?
I think they have their hands full with the S right now and need to stay focused, not develop expensive mods for an old model. Not yet at least.
I think it's better for all of us to wait. No one is even near 100K miles and end of warrenties are only breathing down the necks of a few. Let get a year and a hundred or so our of warranty to start asking about battery replacements.
That's an easy problem to solve. They just don't put as many cells in it. That was one of the original plans for the Model S. The 230 mi version was going to have a full battery of the lower density cells or fewer of the high density cells, depending on which was cheaper at the time. The base 160 mi version was going to have a partial load of lower density cells. The 300 mi version was stated to use all high density cells.There is also the threat of the 2.2mah cells being obsolete. That might take a few years, but it will eventually happen and the higher density cells will have to be retrofitted in.
When we maintain batteries on NiCad's in aircraft we typically do not replace the entire battery unless there had been a thermal incident or other problem. What typically happens is that individual cells are replaced as they individually do no longer pass a capacity test. To me it would make the most sense to "maintain" these batteries in a similiar manner. With the ability of the car and diagnostic software to determine the cells no longer operating properly why not just replace those only. Plan on pulling the battery every 3 years or so, and replace those cells that are not performing. That way you have a more consistent maintenance cost, and not a large bill when the whole thing needs to be replaced, and a more consistent and stable battery.
I think they have their hands full with the S right now and need to stay focused, not develop expensive mods for an old model. Not yet at least.
I disagree: The Roadster was originally built by a very small team and I see no reason why a seperate side business, almost like a skunk works, couldn't churn out upgrades without tripping up the S development.
For example, we know that the latest cells could give a near 400 mile range. I'm sure there are owners - possibly the same group as the early adopters - that would pay big money say they have that, providing a revenue stream for Tesla while keeping them way out ahead of the pack.
User maintained battery packs would be a great benefit to EV owners. The ability to replace cells or clusters of cells without having to replace the entire pack should be an objective. Of course replacing 8000 batteries cells is not an easy task. This is where larger cell formats may be advantageous. One would purchase the latest and greatest format cell and pop one or more into the pack. Yeah, it sounds far fetched but humans are close to discovering earth like worlds light years away.When we maintain batteries on NiCad's in aircraft we typically do not replace the entire battery unless there had been a thermal incident or other problem. What typically happens is that individual cells are replaced as they individually do no longer pass a capacity test. To me it would make the most sense to "maintain" these batteries in a similiar manner. With the ability of the car and diagnostic software to determine the cells no longer operating properly why not just replace those only. Plan on pulling the battery every 3 years or so, and replace those cells that are not performing. That way you have a more consistent maintenance cost, and not a large bill when the whole thing needs to be replaced, and a more consistent and stable battery.
The average price of lithium-ion battery packs for electric vehicles fell 14 percent in the past year as production capacity exceeded demand, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.
Batteries cost $689 a kilowatt-hour in the first quarter of 2012, compared with $800 a year earlier, the London-based research company said today in a statement.
Prices for batteries have dropped 30 percent since 2009, making electric vehicles less expensive.