Super-efficient Tesla batteries holy grail of EV technology

By IANS | Published: October 1, 2019 09:42 AM2019-10-01T09:42:06+5:302019-10-01T09:50:18+5:30

While countries worldwide are scrambling to achieve a perfect EV ecosystem, Elon Musk-run Tesla has achieved great deal of efficacy in this field and is now aiming to create a lithium-ion battery that can run a car or an electric truck for over 16 lakh kms.

Super-efficient Tesla batteries holy grail of EV technology | Super-efficient Tesla batteries holy grail of EV technology

Super-efficient Tesla batteries holy grail of EV technology

You read it right.

Current Tesla cars can achieve about 8 lakh kms out of their batteries before they face any serious problem.

A new research paper from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada now claims the Jeff Dahn-led team is close to creating a lithium-ion battery that can run a car for over 1 million (over 16 lakh) miles.

The university, which has a pact with Tesla, published a paper in The Journal of the Electrochemical Society describing a lithium-ion battery that "should be able to power an electric vehicle for over 1 million miles" while losing less than 10 per cent of its energy capacity during its lifetime.

For more than a decade, Tesla engineers have been obsessed with making the world's most efficient electric vehicles.

As a result, Tesla vehicles already travel farther on a single charge than any other production EV on the market.

Model S and Model X cars can achieve nearly 600 kms and 525 kms per charge on a 100 kWh battery pack.

Model S and Model X are now capable of achieving 200 kW on V3 Superchargers and 145 kW on V2 Superchargers. Together, these improvements enable customers to recharge batteries 50 per cent faster.

According www.teslarati.com, Tesla is currently conducting large-scale improvements to the Gigafactory, aimed at automating its battery module production line.

Tesla's choice of cylindrical cells sets it apart from other EV players.

The company also uses a liquid-cooled thermal management system to manage battery temperatures whereas other automakers take a more economical air-cooling approach.

By adjusting the temperature of the battery pack, Tesla is able to ensure that cells are operating in their most efficient and optimal states, thereby maximizing battery longevity as well as performance.

The lithium-ion batteries described in the paper published in The Journal of the Electrochemical Society use lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, or NMC, for the battery's positive electrode (cathode) and artificial graphite for its negative electrode (anode).

NMC/graphite chemistries have long been known to increase the energy density and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries, reports wired.com.

According to global market research firm IHS Markit, in China, 20 per cent of all vehicles sales are to have some form of electrification by 2025, while France and the UK propose to end the sale of all cars emitting greenhouse gases by 2040.

The main cost component of an EV is its battery pack and Tesla that keeps its battery technology a closely guarded secret, has mastered the technology to a great extent.

( With inputs from IANS )

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