Does the Tesla Battery is liquid cooled? Beside swapping why not use Uhaul trailer

[NeverFollow]

1) Looking at the swap demo video, I was wondering if the Tesla Batteries are liquid cooled?

- If there is a liquid cooling (may be I am wrong), the swapping seems to be a little more complex than just unplugging a socket.

- Any details regarding the cooling mechanism disconnect mechanism?

- If the coolant is pressurized, there must be some kind of leak when swapping the battery.

- I wonder if there is a control on the dashboard indicating the liquid level,
and if it becomes too low there must be refill request warning message displayed on the screen?

2) Beside swapping why not use a "U-Haul" loaner type trailer?

- I was thinking that swapping would not be the scenario that I would envisage during a trip.

For example, going to a cabin or a remote Motel in the Sierra, far away from any Super Charger, I would like to use a "U-Haul" type trailer
with a Tesla battery inside connected to my car. So while driving, I should be able to use the battery of the trailer instead of the internal battery.

When I arrive at the cabin or the Motel, I then leave the trailer there for a full day for recharging (the cabin may have only a Level 1, 15A 110v plug)
but I would still be able to drive my car for the remaining of the day, and the next day.

Then on my way back, I would use first the "U-Haul" trailer and then the car battery until I find a Super Charger station.

While at the Super Station charger, I would leave the loaner trailer there and plug it for the next customer.

3) Technical considerations

- I think that the Roadster battery form factor would be a better choice as this battery is more compact than the flat Model S battery
and would be more easier to fit inside a "U-Haul" type of trailer.

- To allow using the trailer battery while driving, a cooling of the battery would be required, thus making the design of such trailer a little bit complex.

- Having a trailer might limit the speed to 55 miles on High-Way, but in the case of travelling to the Sierra, this would not be too much of an issue.

- There would be a need to add a secondary plug behind the car and a switch control inside the car to use the battery of the trailer
instead of the internal car battery when needed.

- I think that this scenario of going in the Sierra would be more appropriate when considering getting a Model X (4 wheel drive, 7 passengers)
which might be heavier than the Model S, thus having a lower range.

What do you thing about this "U-Haul" trailer idea?

 

[ElSupreme]

A lot of people have suggested hauling more batteries, or a generator. The major drawbacks are requiring a hitch, lengthening the vehicle, and the additional drag on the vehicle. The additional drag, specially on a road trip, is going to make adding more batteries a marginal solution. You also have the cost and complexity of having a plug, that is safe to disconnect and connect to the trailer. Swapping the battery seems like a much better solution.

And yes the battery is liquid cooled, and the loop run directly into the battery itself. There is a coolant reservoir so losing a tiny amount of coolant shouldn't be a problem, as far as the car is concerned.

 

[wycolo]

Considering the ever expanding Tesla Charging Network solely as a stand-alone entity, one envisions the problem of propagating ModelS battery units out to the frontier locations. I.e. true outposts with not much more than an electric meter on a power pole. Maybe a rude shack for the poor Tesla travelers to overnight in. But each arriving ModelS would bring with it a complete battery tin carried by a trailer frame. If that location already has enough batteries then the travelers will haul it to the next location or the next. Onward across the continent.

The local operator would keep his battery units charged so arriving Ss can recharge at a much faster rate than they could by just plugging in. Returning (to California) Ss would haul the empty trailer frames with them, dropping them off as close to the factory as possible.

So until real SCs can be built, these relay stations would serve the same purpose but with very little infrastructure requiremets. In no time at all, ModelS pioneers will have spread these outposts across the nation, into every nook and cranny of our highway system. And they each will have a Tesla sign on a pole out front, soon to become as ubiquitous as the Pepsi sign.

Factory just needs to include a trailer hitch on every ModelS and weld up a bunch of battery trailers.
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[TFMethane]

I read in one of the more lengthy accounts of the battery swap demo that disconnecting the coolant lines and topping off the reservoir is part of the swap process. In fact, it seems that this part of the process is what makes it take 90 sec. You saw how much time it takes to physically raise and lower the battery... only about 30 sec. The rest of the time is dealing with these other connections and issues.