TESLA TRAVELS 1,200KM ON A SINGLE CHARGE WITH BREAKTHROUGH BATTERY

[TruckElectric]

A Tesla vehicle equipped with a next-generation battery was able to travel more than 1,200km (750 miles) on a single charge.

The first road test of the Gemini battery, developed by Detroit-based startup Our Next Energy (ONE), achieved nearly double the typical range that a standard Tesla Model S is able to achieve, and more than the highest range of any mass-produced gasoline-powered vehicles.


Travelling across Michigan, the results “set a new benchmark for the entire automotive industry”, according to ONE founder and CEO Mujeeb Ijaz.

“We want to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by eliminating range anxiety, which holds back most consumers today,” he said.

“We are now focussed on evolving this proof-of-concept battery into a new product called GeminiTM, which will enable long distance trips on a single charge while improving cost and safety using sustainable materials.”

The proof-of-concept solves the issue of range anxiety with electric vehicles, which until now has been addressed through making charging stations more ubiquitous. This comes with its own issues however, most notably the length of time it takes to recharge an electric car compared to refilling a fuel-powered vehicle.




The battery used in the ONE prototype is an innovative lithium iron phosphate design, which the company hopes will be used in commercial trucks later this year.


The technology was presented at the CES 2022 tech conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, where several other companies and startups displayed ambitious battery life designs.

Mercedes promised a 965km range for its Vision EQXX prototype vehicle, while HyperX’s wireless gaming headphones boasted of a 300-hour charge cycle – a 10-fold improvement on standard wireless headsets.

Energy density limitations of lithium-ion batteries, which are found in most consumer technology products, have been augmented by new anodes and ultra-efficient processors, but researchers are now looking to next-generation batteries like lithium-sulfur.

So far, any breakthroughs with these new battery types are yet to make it out of the lab, but are could one day replace their conventional counterparts due to their vastly superior capacity and improved environmental credentials.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/tesla-battery-electric-car-b1994523.html

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[FutureBoy]

Tesla Pivots On Battery Tech And It Starts A Major Trend
Tesla has been a trendsetter in the EV industry for years, and now Chinese automakers are taking notes.

By: EVANNEX

This article comes to us courtesy of EVANNEX, which makes and sells aftermarket Tesla accessories. The opinions expressed therein are not necessarily our own at InsideEVs, nor have we been paid by EVANNEX to publish these articles. We find the company's perspective as an aftermarket supplier of Tesla accessories interesting and are happy to share its content free of charge. Enjoy!

Posted on EVANNEX on January 15, 2022, by Matt Pressman

Electric vehicles often differ based on different battery technologies. U.S.-based electric automaker, Tesla, has set the trend for years. According to Yang Jie at Wall Street Journal, "A less-expensive battery technology championed by Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk rose to dominate the world's largest auto market last year."

Above: A few of the electric cars in Tesla's fleet (Twitter: Tesla Greater China)

The batteries are lithium iron phosphate — often referred to as LFP batteries. WSJ's Jie reports, "One of the strongest advocates is Tesla’s Mr. Musk, who has said that finding enough nickel at reasonable cost is a major production concern."

“Our intent with this pack is that product experience is roughly equivalent between nickel & iron,” Mr. Musk wrote on Twitter last August to a customer who was offered earlier delivery of a Tesla if he chose the LFP option.

“I’d personally slightly opt for iron pack, as it wants to be charged to 100% whereas nickel prefers ~90%,” Mr. Musk said in the Twitter post.

"Tesla first used LFP batteries for its China-made Model 3 in 2020. Last October, the company said it would extend the use of the iron-based batteries to all of its standard-range cars. China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., the world’s biggest maker of electric-vehicle batteries, supplies Tesla with LFP batteries," notes WSJ.

Meanwhile, "Other Chinese electric vehicle brands are also becoming heavy users of LFP." In fact, China's EV brands have wholeheartedly embraced LFP, "not only because of the cost but also because the batteries are less likely to catch fire," translating to a better safety profile, according to WSJ. In turn, adoption of LFP in China has been swift.

The numbers tell the story. "Batteries using lithium iron phosphate or LFP technology accounted for 57% of total battery production for vehicles in China during 2021, up from less than half the previous year. The LFP batteries have stormed into the lead in China because they use relatively inexpensive iron in the battery’s cathode in place of costlier metals such as nickel," reports Jie.

Although Tesla's move to LFP batteries has caught on with China's EV brands, traditional automakers (in Europe in America) have lagged behind. It's reported that, "they generally haven’t gotten as far as Tesla and Chinese makers in bringing the technology into mass-market production."

 

[FutureBoy]

I love that ONE used a Tesla MS for their distance challenge. Really helps push Tesla as the vehicle to beat.

Now given that, this tech is still in the development phase and they have not mentioned anyone signing up to take this tech to production for their own vehicles. But it seems to be based on lithium iron phosphate which is also the base chemistry that Tesla is using for the less energy-dense versions of its cars. In the article from Evannex it seems that the China market is going gangbusters on batteries built with lithium iron phosphate chemistry.

And with Tesla using lithium iron phosphate chemistry in many of its batteries, this ONE demonstration shows that there is still considerable range to be had even in this chemistry. Hopefully, Tesla will take notice and work to increase their range even more.

Currently though, I believe the plan for CT4 at least is to use nickle based batteries. I wonder how they will compare to the range available in batteries like ONE makes. I would love if the 500+ mile range of the original CT3 could be extended even further for the CT4.

 

[Crissa]

Yeah, but they didn't give any of the other stats that are important at the pack level: Weight, stiffness, charging speed, and fire safety.

-Crissa

 

[FutureBoy]

Yeah, but they didn't give any of the other stats that are important at the pack level: Weight, stiffness, charging speed, and fire safety.

-Crissa

So true. And I doubt they will. But if it makes Tesla take notice, I'll be happy to get more range directly from Tesla. I can't imagine the nightmare of warranty coverage might be involved if I were to buy a new Tesla then hire ONE to replace the battery pack for more range. I'm guessing Tesla won't touch the car after that.

 

[Crissa]

But Tesla knows they could stuff more cells in their batteries... But then they'd sell fewer cars.

-Crissa

 

[Newton]

sooo any data about how big the battery is?

kinda useless without that, wouldnt be hard to just add a big ass battery to get more range, but like, thats not the point

 

[Tinker71]

Yeah, but they didn't give any of the other stats that are important at the pack level: Weight, stiffness, charging speed, and fire safety.

-Crissa

I thought I read that the test was conducted at 55 MPH on flat ground. That would account for some of the extra range.

 

[android04]

sooo any data about how big the battery is?

kinda useless without that, wouldnt be hard to just add a big ass battery to get more range, but like, thats not the point

I believe they said the custom battery pack was 200kWh, or twice as big as Tesla's current large packs.

 

[Newton]

I believe they said the custom battery pack was 200kWh, or twice as big as Tesla's current large packs.

yea i figured as much, not very Revolutionary.
but Its cool theres another option for people willing to spend the xtra cash to have massive range

 

[NoBeard]

sooo any data about how big the battery is?

kinda useless without that, wouldnt be hard to just add a big ass battery to get more range, but like, thats not the point

Yes, I'd also read their specs and saw the 200 kWh battery, and the flat ground 55 mph test. Combine these two things and all of a sudden, 1200 km 750 miles just doesn't come across as all that earth shattering. I guess that you may get more of the charge cycle at a higher speed since there's more cells to distribute the Volts to when charging so there would be a marginal decrease in charge time over charging a 100 kWh battery twice. For the likely cost & possible weight penalty really don't think its a revolution to put more capacity in a car, and then drive it at a speed that is not an accurate representation of highway driving in 2022 when the whole point of greater range is presumably to increase the range on the highway.

 

[Cybertruck Hawaii]

The future of the electric vehicle will be a smaller, lighter battery that has a very fast charge time.

 

[FutureBoy]

The future of the electric vehicle will be a smaller, lighter battery that has a very fast charge time.

That's just how tech works. Everything gets smaller, lighter, and faster.

So what is your prediction for the initial Cybertruck? What will be the overall battery capacity? How heavy will the batteries be? How fast will they charge?

 

[Norwegian]

The one.ai web page doesn't actually specify which chemistry is used in the experimental 203 kWh Gemini battery, only that it has an energy density of 416 Wh/l.

Their Aries battery, on the other hand, is openly declared as LFP with an energy density of 287 Wh/l or just 144 Wh/kg.

Assuming approximately the same volume/weight ratio for the two, the Gemini would weigh in at around 1000 kg with an energy density of about 200 Wh/kg. And a 203 kWh LFP Aries would weigh 1400 kg.

For comparison, the 2170s in the M3 is widely listed at 260 Wh/kg, and the 4680 at 380 Wh/kg.

Thoughts?

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