Battery Pack Teardown Photos Reveals Empty Spaces (Sandy Munro Live)

[bwhntr78]

How much have you driven a Tesla? You may not be familiar with how well Teslas travel.

I currently own 2 model Y's, and had a 2018 model 3 prior to that. I intentionally bought the Y performance to replace my model 3 even though it had less range, because for MY CAR, 300 miles is plenty FOR ME. As a daily driver and occasional road-tripper, performance was more important to me than range. We have taken multiple 1000+ mile road trips, and charging has never been an issue.

However, my priorities for a truck are different. I'm not towing a 10,000lb travel trailer cross country, but I am often pulling a utility trailer, boat, or snowmobiles 150+ miles. I was, and am still hopeful that a 500+ EPA CT will eventually become a reality, because that is what I need to replace my current Tundra without every trip becoming a charging headache.

I'm very aware that my use case is different than others, but it it is tiring when those that don't tow, and live in areas of the country where there is a supercharger every 10 miles try to tell others that the extra battery is just an unnecessary expense in terms of money, efiiciency, and performance.

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[Outdoors]

I'm very aware that my use case is different than others, but it it is tiring when those that don't tow, and live in areas of the country where there is a supercharger every 10 miles try to tell others that the extra battery is just an unnecessary expense in terms of money, efiiciency, and performance.

It is tiring, and I would be the first to benefit of both more chargers and a bigger pack. Would gladly pay for extra range, but not the cost of bed space. As the bed fits my needs perfect. The range does kind of 90% of the time.

Yet I can understand why Tesla is not ready to throw all the batteries at the Cybertruck to match the pack size of a hummer. The offer of the add-on pack for the Cybertruck may be just to figure out the demand.

It sucks to say. A bigger pack helps so few right now, and they can sell so many more everything if they don't make a 500 mile range truck now.

Yet my use case is small compared to others, and that is what we get for now.

Let us all not forget the terms like sunk costs, shareholders, and profitability.

Putting out a Halo truck would be like what GM is doing with the Hummer and GMC/Chevy trucks. If people would complain about not getting a truck. I would imagine many fewer trucks heading out daily if we saw the 500 mile range offered.

 

[bwhntr78]

It is tiring, and I would be the first to benefit of both more chargers and a bigger pack. Would gladly pay for extra range, but not the cost of bed space. As the bed fits my needs perfect. The range does kind of 90% of the time.

Yet I can understand why Tesla is not ready to throw all the batteries at the Cybertruck to match the pack size of a hummer. The offer of the add-on pack for the Cybertruck may be just to figure out the demand.

It sucks to say. A bigger pack helps so few right now, and they can sell so many more everything if they don't make a 500 mile range truck now.

Yet my use case is small compared to others, and that is what we get for now.

Let us all not forget the terms like sunk costs, shareholders, and profitability.

Putting out a Halo truck would be like what GM is doing with the Hummer and GMC/Chevy trucks. If people would complain about not getting a truck. I would imagine many fewer trucks heading out daily if we saw the 500 mile range offered.

I agree 100%. I understand why they aren't offering it now, and that playing the percentages makes sense, especially during the ramp. I just remain hopeful that eventually they will build the truck I need to comfortably make the switch to EV. And seeing a bunch of extra space in the pack makes me ever-so-slightly more confident that they at least have it in the long term plans.

 

[Crissa]

Are you really thinking that Tesla didn't realize that there was extra space in the battery shell? That Sandy's teaser was actually news to Tesla?

If extending or replacing the existing battery was option, why would they have even thought about the battery extender?

(I wish Sandy would hurry up and prove how stupid this thread is)

It is a good question. All the pictures of the extender are renders, which might have been a poll or fake-out. Tesla's done it before, tho not so blatantly.

-Crissa

 

[Outdoors]

I just remain hopeful that eventually they will build the truck I need to comfortably make the switch to EV. And seeing a bunch of extra space in the pack makes me ever-so-slightly more confident that they at least have it in the long term plans.

Comfort doesn't always equate to moving to an EV. Sometimes in all aspects got to take a plunge. I know you already own them. Yet for a truck think of all the time waiting for the perfect truck. It is like waiting for the perfect Tesla. The one with just the option added that took 2 years to get there. Now is always the right time.

We don't really have time for long term. Need more people to adopt EV's. I too get sucked into the world of waiting for perfect. I am just glad my last ICE purchase came in 2012. My purchase of every EV is cause related, but also fits my use case. Sometimes it takes a bit of work, but overall I benefit, and so do others.

I wish I could agree with the extra pack space. I don't see it on the forefront anytime soon.

 

[BannedByTMC]

My take is the extra space is for impact protection in a vehicle that is likely to go off road and over hard obstacles. That allows an impact to deform the bottom quite a bit before impacting the cells and is a good safety feature. I would not expect that space to be filled with more/larger cells ever.

 

[Knucklehead]

How much have you driven a Tesla? You may not be familiar with how well Teslas travel.

I am familiar with how well ICEVs travel. I want a BEV that goes as far on the highway as a typical ICEV.

My wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee can go 500+ miles between refueling stops on the highway. Why do I have to settle for less in a BEV?

Plugging and charging is very nice, but really not better than gas refueling even at a SC station.

And I really, really hate stopping before I want to stop. Or stopping where I have to stop and finding something to do for 20 minutes when I could have been driving. You are obviously OK with it, I am not.

But what Iove is the idea I can drive 200 miles away from my house and return without ever stopping to refuel. I can refuel at home. The more I can do that, the better. To me it is 100x better to charge at home than to charge on the road. Longer range means less charging on the road.

We really just need to agree to disagree. I will pay for the longest range, and you won't. We can both be happy. That is what capitalism makes possible.

 

[Crissa]

My take is the extra space is for impact protection in a vehicle that is likely to go off road and over hard obstacles. That allows an impact to deform the bottom quite a bit before impacting the cells and is a good safety feature. I would not expect that space to be filled with more/larger cells ever.

I don't think that's the bottom.

-Crissa

 

[Crissa]

My wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee can go 500+ miles between refueling stops on the highway. Why do I have to settle for less in a BEV?

...Because that's a ridiculous way to look at things.

You have a gas tank with a certain range because it's difficult and dangerous to transport and store large amounts of gasoline, so you want it to be able to go a week without going to a specialized station to refill. When you refill, someone has to stand there and watch and match sure your vehicle doesn't blow up, while dispensing the dangerous fuel.

Neither of these things are true about electricity. It's easy and safe to transport - even with things like the Paradise fire - it's still so much safer than the transport of anything else known to man other than information. It's so safe to load into your vehicle, you don't need to be present to do it. And it's so ubiquitous, you have to specifically try to get away from places that have it. Electricity is far more ubiquitous than gas stations.

Sure, EVSEs aren't as common yet and DC Fast chargers require a substation that may or may not be easy to get. But they're expanding all the time.

Just plug in when you go pee. Or vice versa. But you'll literally spend less time plugging and unplugging than you would have spent standing at attention at a gas pump. Even if you charge every day and twice on Saturday.

-Crissa

 

[BannedByTMC]

I don't think that's the bottom.

-Crissa

It is because the top has the seat mounting rails welded to it. I also was confused at first. You can see them clearly in this pic

 

[Woodrick]

We really just need to agree to disagree. I will pay for the longest range, and you won't. We can both be happy. That is what capitalism makes possible.

So how much range would you pay for? Let's say that it costs an extra $10,000 for each extra 100 miles of range.

 

[Woodrick]

...Because that's a ridiculous way to look at things.

You have a gas tank with a certain range because it's difficult and dangerous to transport and store large amounts of gasoline, so you want it to be able to go a week without going to a specialized station to refill. When you refill, someone has to stand there and watch and match sure your vehicle doesn't blow up, while dispensing the dangerous fuel.

Neither of these things are true about electricity. It's easy and safe to transport - even with things like the Paradise fire - it's still so much safer than the transport of anything else known to man other than information. It's so safe to load into your vehicle, you don't need to be present to do it. And it's so ubiquitous, you have to specifically try to get away from places that have it. Electricity is far more ubiquitous than gas stations.

Sure, EVSEs aren't as common yet and DC Fast chargers require a substation that may or may not be easy to get. But they're expanding all the time.

Just plug in when you go pee. Or vice versa. But you'll literally spend less time plugging and unplugging than you would have spent standing at attention at a gas pump. Even if you charge every day and twice on Saturday.

-Crissa

Once you start charging at home, it becomes obvious how many hours an ICE requires you to be somewhere else.

 

[Woodrick]

It is because the top has the seat mounting rails welded to it. I also was confused at first. You can see them clearly in this pic

Interesting point.

And with that in mind, I've wondered why the battery packing material seems to be smushed out, the white on top of the batteries.
In the Model Y, AFAIK, that stuff was all over the place and Sandy had to figure out a way to remove it to get to the batteries. They tried all sorts of chemicals.
It sounds plausible if that is indeed room that is full of the battery fire retardant.

 

[SentinelOne]

So how much range would you pay for? Let's say that it costs an extra $10,000 for each extra 100 miles of range.

I'd pay the 16k for 100mi extra (under the floor, not in the bed)! Beast = 400mi epa and > 150 towing and 250+ mi at 80mph - would be perfect! Extra 800lbs? would put truck at 7700lbs - still lighter than my 2500! I'll survive with CB as is, but doesn't mean I wouldn't like the above as a good balance for my use case!

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