81–90 of 180 posts
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Better: * can charge to 100% all the time * no rare earth minerals * stable Worse: * not as energy dense * US doesn't make a lot of this type of battery
The US doesn't make a lot of this type of battery because there is a consortium of patent-holders who charge enough to make LFP less economically viable that wasn't able to secure all the needed patents in China.
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Absolutely, it's a big part of why they're cheaper. I just wish I could actually get them for reasonable prices in smaller quantities. I have to pay a 3-5x premium for LiFePO4 batteries. I'd love some at a reasonable premium for my ebike :)
eBike batteries are as unique as all of the power tool ones so that they are all different. what's your approach to housing and connecting your DIY battery for your make/model? i just recently became an eBike owner as well, and a second battery pack is 1/3 the price of the bike.
Secondary battery packs are so expensive because of DRM and lack of interoperability. I could make for 100$ a battery pack that Bosch sells for 900$. You're really not paying for the cells.
Power tool batteries aren't really unique either btw. The shape is slightly different but they're all just 2p-3p 18650s with basic slot connectors.
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That’s because Elon is genuinely trying to solve our energy problem, although people love to hate on him
Because he's not, he's just trading energy credits.
Before Musk bought Tesla, policy-makers in the US and Europe were all "electric vehicles are a nice idea, but simply impractical and unfeasible. So our vehicle manufacturers tell us".
In the short span of ten years, electric vehicles have become mandatory in many Western countries, starting sometime in the next 10 to 15 years, and they are headed that way in many more.
And that is down to Musk. Whatever his--many and grievous--personal faults may be, and whatever else he does short of mass murder, he deserves our gratitude for this alone.
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Adding to this info - LiFePO4 batteries are far more chemically stable and therefore need no cooling system. I have LiFePO4 home backup batteries and they are completely passively cooled.
I'm in the market for home backup batteries and was wondering if you could namedrop the mfgs of your batteries if you were satisfied with them.
Elon has said multiple times Tesla will buy all the batteries from all the suppliers they possibly can AND make their own as fast as possible AND increase existing contracts with Panasonic AND seek out as many new suppliers as physically possible. Takeaway: Tesla want more batteries.
Everyone wants more batteries. Batteries are going to be the new semiconductors over the next few decades.
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There are a couple replies about why Tesla doesn't still do battery swaps, but none of them got it right: Back when Tesla demoed the battery swap capability, California's CARB was offering extra ZEV credits for each electric vehicle sold with "fast refueling" capability. Tesla set up the single "battery swap station" in order to comply with the letter of the law and collect a few extra tens of millions in credits. Th…
This is the same type of thing as the "green" hydrogen-based initiatives. Literally 100% of these are run by fossil-fuel companies that want to get various incentives and credits for green initiatives. Hydrogen is hilariously bad at everything, and makes zero sense to use for any purpose. Yet, it keeps getting pushed and pushed because of these legal fictions.
Modern IP rights combined with the IP wild-west that we have allowed in China are about backfire on western industry so hard. See section 3 here: https://roskill.com/news/batteries-the-true-drivers-behind-l... We chose to give China a 10 year head start on LFP at scale.
IP right shouldn't even be a consideration when it comes to clean energy. What is super hypocritical is people who criticize China for environmental issues AND also want to restrict their access to clean energy tech. Countries other than the US: Please copy the heck out of every invention that is going to help us fix climate change and deploy it at scale ASAP. Don't listen to noisy US patent lawyers. American lawyers…
So now both the motor tech (hub motors) and the battery tech (LiFePO4) took off in China. At least now Hydro-Quebec restarted their EV program, but for buses only.
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> This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that LiFePO4 handles 100% charges and 100% discharge I don't think that's quite true. LFP cells have a minimum voltage; they may survive being discharged to zero, but it probably isn't a good idea for long-term longevity. (I'm currently working on an EV conversion that uses LFP cells, but I haven't actually done durability testing or anything like that, I'm just going by what…
That's not quite what 100% discharge usually refers. 100% discharge means from the maximum charge voltage to the minimum discharge voltage. That corresponds to, normally, using up the rated capacity of the cell. On lithium batteries you'd normally only use 80% of the rated capacity if you want to maintain durability.
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LiFePO4 has lower energy density and it's way more durable. Both properties go against the throw-away culture. (Hand held) Tool industry thrives on selling battery packs - every single brand has its own battery lock-in to boot as well. Phones often get disposed once their battery capacity diminishes.
High time for some regulation here, if we can standardize charger plugs then we can standardize battery packs, the amount of waste on account of all this purposeful incompatibility is staggering. All it would take is an agreed upon form factor, charger and available voltages (say: 18, 36, 48 or the nearest equivalent) and we'd save many, many tons of hard to recycle materials every year. Bonus points if there would b…
I agree regulation is the answer - and becoming an easier argument as phone improvements slow.
Meanwhile, it seems it shouldn't be too hard to make a universal adapter (provided you can access the battery).
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This is the same type of thing as the "green" hydrogen-based initiatives. Literally 100% of these are run by fossil-fuel companies that want to get various incentives and credits for green initiatives. Hydrogen is hilariously bad at everything, and makes zero sense to use for any purpose. Yet, it keeps getting pushed and pushed because of these legal fictions.
For cars I definitely agree. I think hydrogen might be used for planes in the future. The future for them isn't going to be electric, so if we want 0 emission planes, there isn't really a viable alternative.
Aircraft fuel tanks are just empty unused spaces in the wings and the like, they're practically free in terms of weight.
Also, jet fuel has a nice balance energy per unit weight and energy per unit volume. Hydrogen is too skewed, it is the lightest fuel but takes a huge volume.
For planes, it would make more sense to synthesise jet fuel from atmospheric CO2, or CO2 captured from industrial exhaust.