Elon Musk Reveals Plans for His Million-Mile Battery

I wish him luck ! The article goes on to say that the price of Tesla batteries had gone from $16k in 2016 to close $9k in 2019. That really is a dramatic drop in price but if he can get the price even lower he will then be able to compete with gas power vehicles. I still have not figured out how the electric grid could handle thousands or millions of electric vehicles being plugged in all at once for a charge.. ?

Elon Musk has announced ambitious plans to make Tesla batteries that can live second and even third lives as they survive for a million miles. The mercurial billionaire has also announced plans to convert Tesla's “megafactories” into “terafactories” that are 30 times larger. And all of this is in service of Musk’s goals to turn Tesla into a power provider to compete with existing electric utilities.

“New, low-cost batteries designed to last for a million miles of use and enable electric Teslas to sell profitably for the same price or less than a gasoline vehicle are just part of Musk’s agenda,” Reuters reports. What does that mean? Even after a long life inside a car, where 200,000 miles is considered a great run depending on make, model, and other details, the battery can hypothetically be resold or recycled into use as part of a Tesla battery farm or home Powerwall system.

www.popularmechanics.com...

a reply to: 727Sky

Last I heard it was tesla using Panasonic tech to make batteries.
Better wish them luck.

originally posted by: 727Sky
I still have not figured out how the electric grid could handle thousands or millions of electric vehicles being plugged in all at once for a charge.. ?

More inefficient and expensive solar and wind farms probably.

a reply to: nerbot
The grid won't be able to handle it. Generating power isn't the main issue. Getting the power to the consumer is since, in many places, the grid won't be able to handle more than a few charging stations. You'll be looking at serious infrastructure upgrades, especially long term with a significant percentage of the population is supposed to be switching to electric cars.
At least that is true for many places in Europe, dunno about the States.

originally posted by: nerbot

originally posted by: 727Sky
I still have not figured out how the electric grid could handle thousands or millions of electric vehicles being plugged in all at once for a charge.. ?

More inefficient and expensive solar and wind farms probably.

Yeah we need more coal burning and gas burning! MCGA MGGA MAHGOOGOO MAGAGA?

originally posted by: abeverage

originally posted by: nerbot

originally posted by: 727Sky
I still have not figured out how the electric grid could handle thousands or millions of electric vehicles being plugged in all at once for a charge.. ?

More inefficient and expensive solar and wind farms probably.

Yeah we need more coal burning and gas burning! MCGA MGGA MAHGOOGOO MAGAGA?

Did you just had a stroke or hammered on your keyboard in anger? Hope it is the latter.

Bring a better solution, because while solar and windfarms are ugly and inefficient, they at least do not pollute the air around them or meltdown.

originally posted by: Shibari

originally posted by: abeverage

originally posted by: nerbot

originally posted by: 727Sky
I still have not figured out how the electric grid could handle thousands or millions of electric vehicles being plugged in all at once for a charge.. ?

More inefficient and expensive solar and wind farms probably.

Yeah we need more coal burning and gas burning! MCGA MGGA MAHGOOGOO MAGAGA?

Did you just had a stroke or hammered on your keyboard in anger? Hope it is the latter.

Bring a better solution, because while solar and windfarms are ugly and inefficient, they at least do not pollute the air around them or meltdown.

Neither actually just making a joke, and agreed!

a reply to: abeverage

The glaring sarcasm and political throw-up didn't escape me, but again, what is your solution?

a reply to: Shibari

Nuclear

I work for an electronics factory. We have a client producing charging equipment for electric vehicles. This client practicaly has a monopoly on power distribution throughout my country and are probably going to monopolise the public and private chargers aswell. Because they own the power grid, they will have direct acces to every sub station.

I have been to their factory doing some on the job repairs and have talked to their lead engineers. They told me that the problem will be circomfenced by communicating between the charger and the station it is connected to. If the station is at high load, it simply will charge less or not at all.

They might be going to sell their chargers with basic, premium and gold memberships. Depending on the load on the local power station, you are put on hold, charged slower or get juice asap. They also told that their units are capable to use the connected cars as a virtual battery, functioning as a buffer to cope with low solar and or wind inputs. In fact using a small amount of your battery charge to fill in gaps in renewable energy.

The grid as is can be build up to fit gold member electric vehicles only, having them pay for the upgrades.

Tháts how they might fit millions of electric cars on a grid that cannot provide for it. Spreading the load.

a reply to: Shibari

Who said solar and wind power doesn't pollute the air?

Solar heats the surrounding air because the panels are dark. Solar pollutes the ground below them with heavy metals as they break down. The solar concentrator power stations are even worse poluters.

Wind generatora take 160 tones of coal each to make. They catch on fire. They kill wildlife. They throw chunks of ice in the winter.

We can do better.

originally posted by: Shibari
a reply to: abeverage

The glaring sarcasm and political throw-up didn't escape me, but again, what is your solution?

Keep pushing the technologically renewable sources, eventually much like Musk's batteries the cost will go down while the inefficiency will go up. If that money was put into clean burning coal eventually we still have it as being a finite exhaustible non-renewable source.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

I for sure did not. Wind and solar has the biggest resource footprint, I know that.

I said it does not pollute the air around it BUT if you want to be semantic and say heat pollution, have a go at it...

a reply to: abeverage

There are some hard limits on technology.
Solar is pretty much maxed with current tech.
Musks batteries are really nasty environmentally speaking... See lithium...ugh..

Im all for investing in research but I don't like wasting money on dead ends and interior products.

originally posted by: mightmight
...........especially long term with a significant percentage of the population is supposed to be switching to electric cars.
At least that is true for many places in Europe, dunno about the States.

Not true here in France. I haven't seen a single charging station anywhere although I'm sure they exist. Haven't seen any electric cars either.

Electric bicycles are quite popular though.

Electric bicycle makes sense... electric cars make no sense in a nation as big as ours with as much open space as we have.

Also they could pay me to take one of those cars but I would still think about it, those batteries are a pox on the environment from start to finish.

Shame so many "green weenies" never think about the damage done to the environment for the sake of their virtue signaling ability.

That paid charging sounds like an awful idea D.Wolf. What happens when every one has top tier, the problem comes back and the need to charge people more to spread it out again! Condoms are a better idea and before I get jumped on, I am never having a child myself.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Most solid option we have currently in my opinion, until something bad happens because stupid decisions.

Like underestimating tsunami in a historical earth quake ridden zone.

It is never the technology but we monkeys that use it and when we # up, our pride and hushing things up is the danger factor here.



Mark my words for the day when you will hear about the solar panel crisis that is building up worldwide. Big problems on the horizon. Hard to judge when it hits the main stream news. Whole production chains will perish and it will turn over the trust in renewable energy. How we will get away from it will purely depend on how customers and manufactures communicate with each other. You heard it here first.

originally posted by: nerbot
More inefficient and expensive solar and wind farms probably.

Nah, LFTR all the way...

originally posted by: mightmight
a reply to: nerbot
Getting the power to the consumer is since, in many places, the grid won't be able to handle more than a few charging stations.

Miniaturized LFTRs - each of us have our own, true energy independence, no more 'grid.

# the grid.