Tesla researcher’s 1 million-mile battery cell breakthrough secures the Semi’s longevity
THE TESLA SEMI GETS TEST DRIVEN. [CREDIT: EMILE BOURET/INSTAGRAM]
Tesla lead battery researcher Jeff Dahn and members of the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science in Dalhousie University recently released a new paper that points to the development of battery cells capable of lasting over 1 million miles on the road, or 20 years if utilized in grid energy storage.
“We conclude that cells of this type should be able to power an electric vehicle for over 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) and last at least two decades in grid energy storage,” the team noted in their paper.
It should be noted that the cells utilized by the researchers are pouch cells as opposed to the cylindrical cells favored by Tesla for its electric vehicles. The new cells feature new chemistry, which improves energy, charge rate and more importantly, allows a larger SOC swing. These optimizations result in savings, both in weight and in cost.
Ric Fulop@ricfulop
2/ This means @tesla will be able to expand the SOC swing of the battery to go to 400 miles or reduce its cost!
Ric Fulop3/ Second life of these packs will change the nature of the grid in the future. As a former battery exec this data is very, very impressive. Thanks @BrianTHeligman for pointing me to the paper! And huge kudos to Jeff and the Dallhausie team for pulling this off.
The idea of a million-mile battery has been mentioned by CEO Elon Musk in the past, together with the development of a drive unit that is also capable of lasting for a million miles on the road. With such innovations in place, Tesla’s battery cells, which are already among the best in the industry, are bound to last even longer.
Used in electric vehicles and operated at temperatures controlled to 20C, the new battery cells are expected to retain 95% fractional capacity after the million-mile mark is reached. Battery cells used for energy storage, on the other hand, are expected to retain 90% fractional capacity after over 20 years of service. Commenting on Dahn’s research, Desktop Metal CEO Ric Fulop stated that the second life of these improved battery packs have the potential to change the very nature of the grid in the future.
These improvements are pretty much the perfect match for some of Tesla’s upcoming projects, particularly its all-electric truck, the Semi. The Semi was announced with a range of either 300 or 500 miles, though Elon Musk has previously hinted that the vehicle will have closer to 600 miles of range per charge instead. The vehicle has garnered warm reception from several large corporations, from UPS to PepsiCo. As such, it is certain that once the Semi gets deployed, the vehicle will be on the road constantly, putting much strain on the truck’s batteries. Having batteries that last longer will make the vehicle more attractive to potential buyers.
JPR007@jpr007Many of the authors have received scholarship support from NSERC, the China Scholarship Council and the Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship program and that support is gratefully acknowledged.
JPR007@jpr007This chart usefully summarises the report’s findings with respect to longevity.
With operating temperature controlled to 20C :
– Vehicle Battery lifetime can exceed 1,000,000 miles before reaching 95% Fractional Capacity (blue line)
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