Pics/Info: Inside the battery pack

[JST]

800V is a whole different ball game. Different wire insulation requirements, DC arc arresting, etc. Good luck finding a reasonably priced high current 800V DC contactor.

An advantage would be that the higher voltage would allow higher power at lower currents, if the pack could handle it. But voltage alone doesn't really tell us a whole lot.

Plus, I don't believe any existing charging standard supports 800VDC. So, I'm thinking someone typod this, honestly. It's likely be way more trouble than it's worth to go above ~500V.

I don't think it's a typo. It's all over their website and they even wrote it on the side of the car.

Of course, whether it's mass producible at reasonable cost is a wholly different story.

What I find interesting is that they are claiming a quick charging time that's about half what Audi is claiming for the Q6. Hard to imagine that the cars would have radically different technology, given that they are both part of VW now, but I suppose anything is possible.

 

[JST]

I think it's likely related to the unit they are using in the 919 hybrid, which has an A123 supplied battery. A quick google didn't turn up exact specs, but this document says the 919 runs at "significantly higher" voltages than the 300-400V "typically found" in electric vehicles.

http://www.porscheengineering.com/filestore.aspx/Porsche-Engineering-Magazine-02-2014-Le-Mans-–-Battery-Development-for-the-919-Hybrid.pdf?pool=peg&type=download&id=pemagazin-02-2014-artikel-lemans-batterieentwicklungfuerden919hybrid&lang=en&filetype=default&version=3e549e9a-c26c-11e4-a19d-001a64c55f5c

 

[henderrj]

Is it possible they intend to use two interconnected 400 volt batteries, one each for the front and rear drives? The advantage here would be in charging time - the packs simultaneously charge, assuming the power supply can keep up. This might make possible the faster charge rates they are claiming and yet use existing battery technology. The Power Docking Port (PDP) was designed to handle up to a thousand volts and amps in the supposition that charging for 250 miles in 15 minutes would be the expectation in but a few years. So for us (we are just about to start promoting the PDP design) this was very exciting news. Now I just have to figure out how to get Volkswagen, Tesla, Daimler, etc, to talk to us!

 

[Lloyd]

Heres what it used to look like!

 

[Andyw2100]

wk057 is banned from posting. He does not want to abandon the discussion of this project. People interested in following the project may do so here: http://wk057.solar/

 

[rdrcrmatt]

wk057 is banned from posting. He does not want to abandon the discussion of this project. People interested in following the project may do so here: http://wk057.solar/

wtf, one of the best contributors to the community here has been banned. Ugh, I hate web forum nut-swinging chest puffing politics.

 

[Gerardf]

Huh ?? banned ??

Why would that be ?? I agree with rdrcrmatt that wk057 was one of the best contributors. Just this tread alone is one of the best on the forum.

I remember reading he decided to stop posting, and he seemed to have very good reasons for that.

 

[wk057]

So I just noticed something interesting when I saw this image on Tesla's website:

Anyone notice anything interesting?

(Cue Jeopardy music.... da da da da da da da..... da da da da DA! da-da-da-da-da-da da da da-da da da da...DA da-da da da... da ... da......)

OK, and the answer is: The fuse cover is under the pack (the black cover on the right side, the orange one is the existing safety pressure release thing). This isn't where it has been on all of the packs I've seen to date. If you look at my earlier posts you'll see the fuse cover is on the top.

This makes sense, since to replace the fuse on older packs requires dropping the pack first.

.... I really should get a new pack to tear down to look for differences. Someone find me a wrecked P90D for sale at a reasonable price. lol.

 

[apacheguy]

How common is a main pack fuse replacement? mnx had one done recently, but I can't seem to think of any others. Now, if they could make the contactors serviceable without dropping the pack I could see that as being useful.

 

[Ingineer]

Definitely interesting, thanks WK057! The fuse is one thing, but making the contactors easy to access could be a safety issue, also they pretty rarely need access to these since contactor failure is rare. Of course they never anticipated Ludicrous upgrades.

 

[doug]

I was just wondering if that means anyone, say a prankster or vandal, could just slide under a parked Model S and yank the fuse.

 

[Kalud]

I was just wondering if that means anyone, say a prankster or vandal, could just slide under a parked Model S and yank the fuse.

Or blow a tire

 

[wk057]

I was just wondering if that means anyone, say a prankster or vandal, could just slide under a parked Model S and yank the fuse.

Quite possible. And I actually considered this as a reason for why they didn't do this before. *shrugs* At the very least someone would need the right tools to do it. I haven't seen one up close yet.

I actually spotted the top of a newer pack today though. The contactor area appears more accessible, with the pack removed the car that is. The cover doesn't overlap the "rapid mate" portion anymore, so it should be accessible more easily.

 

[Ingineer]

I was just wondering if that means anyone, say a prankster or vandal, could just slide under a parked Model S and yank the fuse.

There's likely going to be cover with screws that's not yet on the car in the pic. (Probably one of the later steps on the assembly line.) If you are crafty enough to crawl under a car and perform a relatively complex mechanical operation, you could just as easily cut brake lines, unplug the inverter, etc.

 

[AWDtsla]

I was just wondering if that means anyone, say a prankster or vandal, could just slide under a parked Model S and yank the fuse.

I guess we better get ready to remove charbroiled vandals from underneath the car.


...


You're seriously overestimating vandals.

 

[hcsharp]

I guess we better get ready to remove charbroiled vandals from underneath the car.


...


You're seriously overestimating vandals.

And underestimating Tesla. Removing the cover almost certainly activates a sensor that opens the contactors.

 

[AWDtsla]

And underestimating Tesla. Removing the cover almost certainly activates a sensor that opens the contactors.

Not sure that's going to stop the vandal with his stolen screwdriver from jamming it into the battery pack.

Oh I forgot, vandals usually carry around a socket and ratchet set. Metric and English. You should be much more afraid that these vandals are going to start unbolting various suspension parts, taking out a fuse is the least worst thing to do.

 

[offpist]

Hello.
I have an Tesla S85 battery for sale. (Car had only 10 000 km on it)
Please let me know if anyone is interested i doing an similar project as described in this tread.
Use PM.

Tried to send wk057 an PM, but its blocked.

 

[jeffro01]

Could this be for faster\cheaper servicing of the pyro fuse in the event that it's cut? Since it's a one time thing there, you'd want to be able to get to it quickly and efficiently from a cost\time perspective if you needed to. Or perhaps, Tesla's engineers have looked at what costs the service centers the most time\money and changed the design to make it faster\cheaper?

Jeff

 

[Ingineer]

Could this be for faster\cheaper servicing of the pyro fuse in the event that it's cut? Since it's a one time thing there, you'd want to be able to get to it quickly and efficiently from a cost\time perspective if you needed to. Or perhaps, Tesla's engineers have looked at what costs the service centers the most time\money and changed the design to make it faster\cheaper?

Jeff

The Pyro fuse is not in the pack, nor does it break high voltage.