Look ma, no batteries ! Future Model S race series with Nikola's Tesla tech

[Lex]

The potential for drop-in replacement battery packs opens up the future possibility of drop-in energy technology.

Imagine a classic race series in 10 or 20 years with the Model S, but with way lighter packs, ie. just the structural elements required to make it the beast it is.

A true classic and inspiring vehicle like the Model S will see a healthy number in collectors' hands, and continue to be driven.

Let's say it's wireless, like the original Tesla transmission scheme !

But only in an enclosed race area to keep it near-time realistic.

Pack weight is approx 1800 lbs ?
Car is 4800 lbs curb approx ?
= base car 3000 lbs.

Maybe we have carbon nanofoam or foamy aluminum by then or whatever so the structural "pack" with teh magic tech is 250 lbs or so.

As if the MS doesn't (quietly) scream already. But then again there are limits to surface adhesion. What kind of car would it be ?

Closest thread I could find to anything like this:
Removing ballast from a 40KWh Model S - Page 4

 

[Lex]

Looks like I'm getting my wish sooner than later ! I can't wait to hear more about this wild project.

Go Puck CEO Blake Fuller plans to race the first Tesla Model S up Pikes Peak this June, reports Road & Track. Fuller aims to beat the Electric Production record of 13 minutes, and has cleverly modded the Model S battery pack in hopes of doing so.
Fuller has made his car’s battery pack 80 percent lighter than that in a stock Model S

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/someone-is-finally-racing-a-tesla-model-s-up-pikes-peak-1777891182

A Modified Tesla Model S Will Run Pikes Peak for the First Time This Year

 

[sorka]

The 85 and 90 kWh packs are nothing close to 1800 lbs.

 

[S'toon]

Looks like I'm getting my wish sooner than later ! I can't wait to hear more about this wild project.


http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/someone-is-finally-racing-a-tesla-model-s-up-pikes-peak-1777891182

A Modified Tesla Model S Will Run Pikes Peak for the First Time This Year

The reporting that the battery will be 80% ligher was incorrect.

Update: Fuller’s PR representative contacted us to say that this information is not accurate and that they haven’t release the specs of the Model S yet…

A Tesla Model S with a 80% lighter battery pack to compete at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb [Updated]

Also I think you're making an incorrect assumption. It's not a much lighter battery with the same capacity that the Tesla already had. It's a much lighter battery with a much reduced capacity, since a short race doesn't need a battery with a long range capacity.

Details are scarce at the moment but we understand that the lighter battery pack will have a significantly smaller capacity, since having a long driving range doesn’t really matter in racing (as long as the car passes the finishing line).

Tesla Model S To Compete For The First Time In Pikes Peak Hill Climb

 

[Lex]

Also I think you're making an incorrect assumption. It's not a much lighter battery with the same capacity that the Tesla already had. It's a much lighter battery with a much reduced capacity, since a short race doesn't need a battery with a long range capacity.

Sounds like you're making your own assumption, this thread is about the performance of the Model S with a much lighter pack. Range is another matter entirely.

 

[Lex]

Hmm ok guess I'm not so good at introducing new topics to discuss on here lol how about expanding the thought experiment, what about other alternative energy ideas, today or future, than the battery pack, in place of the battery pack ? For racing, for track sprints, for... whatever.

It doesn't take any time these days to see that if there is volume, and reason, there will always be plug-in replacement items designed that are better, lighter, cheaper, faster, etc. that's why I love tech so much, you just come to expect these "win-win" style improvements over time. If you look at R/C cars, for instance, when there is a plug-in replacement battery pack, there are usually lots and lots of choices.

Tesla's mass produced cars have a self-contained energy module. And, in Tesla's case so far eg. the Roadster, they themselves have offered the "aftermarket" battery improvements later on. I love seeing the loyalty, sure hope it keeps going into the mid-market.

Only thing I can even imagine using any of today's tech that could possibly replace the current cell-based pack, maybe a Cassini-style nuclear degradation power pack, could 300V weigh less than the current battery ? If Cassini's power plant was 30v, 80kg, hmmm that would seem to scale up... but it would probably end up being as large or larger, as heavy, possibly as powerful... but of course stupidly dangerous. No charging ever but charging is just not a big deal past a certain range.

I still hold out hope that one day there will be a plug-in replacement that not only provides power but also generates or autonomously gathers it, somehow -- ZPE, baby ! (#flameon) Maybe Tesla's vehicles are already "plug-in compatible" with the current of the universe and we just need to figure out the adapter part