Will this tech bring us the 600 to 900 range battery?

[Francis Lau]

Here is an interesting article about battery research from MIT

Mutated Virus Helps Build a Better Battery : Discovery News

2-3x improvement for lithium air batteries. Anyway knows how that compares to lithium ion?

 

[widodh]

Don't forget that your charging times will also go up linear with the range.

The current "300 mile pack" is 85kWh, so a 600 mile or 900 mile pack will be 170kWh or 255kWh pack.

A 130kW SuperCharger will still take 1.5 hours to recharge a 600 mile pack and about 2.25 hours to charge a 255kWh pack.

We can't beef up charging connectors even more, 130kW is already a lot of power and we might see 200kW at some point, but we'll reach a limit where cables simply become to heavy and connectors to bulky.

The best improvement would be to save weight on the car, reduce drag and thus use less Wh/KM (or Mile) to improve range.

 

[islandbayy]

Well, wouldn't need to be faster then 130kW. Think about it, how often are you going to blow through 600 or 900 miles in one sitting. Myself, my yearly road trip is almost exactly 1000 miles (999 miles from my home to Aunt & Uncle in Plano TX, and 998 from my house to my Aunt & Uncle in Pensicola Fl, yah, what are the odds). After driving that long, a 1-2 hour break is nice. For for me, 900 mile pack, would mean only a 20-40 minute stop, as I'd just need a tiny bit more to reach my destination.

Though... Just imagine charging that sucker on a 120v outlet MUHahahahaha,,,,,,...... 6.5 days at 12amp 12v, thats if their is no voltage drop.

 

[PhilBa]

There is a lot of ground to cover between the lab and a production product. The vast majority of "breakthroughs" never get there. I would put my bets on incremental improvements.

I would welcome a modest improvement in range, say 350-400 miles, but would much prefer a smaller (weight and size) battery. There is no need to haul around 900 miles worth of battery. Even if charge time was zero, why carry around all that weight when your average driving per day is less than 50 miles? For trips, high amp DC charging will be pretty common place in the not too distant future. The supercharger build out is proceeding and I believe it will cover most of the USA in 2 years. Chademos are getting installed. The SAE DC charger story is getting worked out. Within several years, I think a 200 mile range will become acceptable to most consumers as chargers will be as ubiquitous as gas stations.

 

[brianman]

ETA til some media outlet claims "Future Tesla vehicle batteries have a virus, OMG armaggedon": 2.7 days.

 

[nkohlimd]

This may have more impact...

http://www.technologyreview.com/vie...-vehicle-energy-storage-say-korean-engineers/

 

[PhilBa]

Operator malfunction... a duplicate post.

 

[yobigd20]

This may have more impact...

http://www.technologyreview.com/vie...-vehicle-energy-storage-say-korean-engineers/

yeah I saw this one too. that's not the first article I've read about graphene. Right now IMO thats probably one of the biggest potential next-gen tech for electric cars. If proven safe and effective, once they start being manufactured and mass produced then sure.... but that won't be for at least 4-5 yrs probably.

I think once the next-gen battery tech comes out its really going to put a huge dent in ICE cars and big oil. and then when the next-gen following that comes out...why would you buy a $5/gallon gas powered car when you can get an electric one that goes for 1000 mile range and cost $5 to "fill up"? say bye bye to ICE entirely. petrol based cars only have a few more short years of production left....they will meet the same end as VCRs, cassette tapes, walkmans, CD/DVD players, pay phones, travel agents, disposable cameras, handwritten letters, paper maps, tv guides, encyclopedias, developed film, pagers, typewriters, dial up internet, pay by check, PDAs, CRTs, and Windows Me.

Honestly remembering to "fill up ur gas tank" will eventually become more like remembering phone numbers. Who does that?

 

[nkohlimd]

Agree completely...completely forgot about Windows Me----made me laugh.....

 

[roblab]

Don't forget that your charging times will also go up linear with the range.

The current "300 mile pack" is 85kWh, so a 600 mile or 900 mile pack will be 170kWh or 255kWh pack.

A 130kW SuperCharger will still take 1.5 hours to recharge a 600 mile pack and about 2.25 hours to charge a 255kWh pack.

We can't beef up charging connectors even more, 130kW is already a lot of power and we might see 200kW at some point, but we'll reach a limit where cables simply become to heavy and connectors to bulky.

The best improvement would be to save weight on the car, reduce drag and thus use less Wh/KM (or Mile) to improve range.

And yet, the 600 mile pack would only have about 400 miles OR LESS driving at uber freeway speeds. How many times have I heard that "I didn't buy a $100,000 car to do 60 miles per hour" Or even 65. Everyone has to drive 5 to 10 over the speed limit even if it means they have to stop an extra hour at a charging station.

So let's get realistic. The People Who Drive say, "figure on 170 miles of range". That's only 340 miles.

Sorry to toss water on the enthusiasm.

But I would like a longer range battery. It's not "size doesn't matter." It's all about size.

 

[AnOutsider]

And yet, the 600 mile pack would only have about 400 miles OR LESS driving at uber freeway speeds. How many times have I heard that "I didn't buy a $100,000 car to do 60 miles per hour" Or even 65. Everyone has to drive 5 to 10 over the speed limit even if it means they have to stop an extra hour at a charging station.

So let's get realistic. The People Who Drive say, "figure on 170 miles of range". That's only 340 miles.

Sorry to toss water on the enthusiasm.

But I would like a longer range battery. It's not "size doesn't matter." It's all about size.

I'd be fine with a 400 mile realistic range. That's double my current range and would make the car absolutely perfect for all my trips (even long distance)

 

[Cosmacelf]

I agree, Philba, people are stressing about range now because it is all so new. Once the supercharger network is built out, people will start to realize that a lighter car and/or cheaper car with the same range as the Model S is what they really want.

 

[William13]

Range is a real issue. California may have lots of super chargers soon but Indiana won't. Yesterday in Chicago I could not charge due to two IMievs rental cars that used the spots but didn't need charging but used the plugs and spots. My friends will not buy without better range. 100 miles to Chicago, drive around, drive back. Not happening at 75 mph. I charge at parking garages, but this requires planning with alternatives. This doesn't appeal to non early adopters.

Bigger batteries will be needed for another wave of adopters. I expect this is part of the reason that the Model X has been pushed back in time. Elon wants to be able to offer a larger battery. I expect 105 kWh. Luckily this will fit my Model S too.