3 ms·

Pretty sure they will also use the batteries in their powerwall's as well (I seem to remember that the grid storage in CA was produced with batteries from the g

Pretty sure they will also use the batteries in their powerwall's as well (I seem to remember that the grid storage in CA was produced with batteries from the gigafactory) I would imagine they would quickly switch the powerwall to use the new battery size that the gigafactory is producing..

hwillis 9y ago
The powerwalls and powerpacks use a different chemistry from the cars, and are still using the 18650 size going forward. It's trivially easy to change the size of cylindrical batteries. Li-ion batteries are essentially a tape, and the second to last step of production is to roll the tape up and insert it into the battery. Different cells just require different cans and widths of tape.
- petra 9y ago
  What about a different chemistry , like Li-Sulfur ? how big of a change the gigafactory will require ?
  - hwillis 9y ago
    Most likely very little. Sulfur cathodes would just be deposited on the tape like any other cathode, and the gigafactory could freely switch to any other standard chemistry after some setup time and adjustments. More radical (and also much less likely) changes would have bigger impacts. Lithium metal batteries would probably require replacing some significant machinery. Solid electrolyte or ceramic batteries could need almost an entirely new production line. Metal air batteries would be almost completely incompatable. Realistically, there are probably no changes coming in the next 30 years that will require rebuilding anything significant.
- sp332 9y ago
  I'm pretty sure Powerwall 2 uses the same 2170 cells as the Model 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall#Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall#Technology and see the note on 2170 cells on this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes#Lithium-ion_batteries_.28rechargeable.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes#Lithium-...
  - hwillis 9y ago
    My mistake! You are correct.

hwillis 9y ago

The powerwalls and powerpacks use a different chemistry from the cars, and are still using the 18650 size going forward. It's trivially easy to change the size of cylindrical batteries. Li-ion batteries are essentially a tape, and the second to last step of production is to roll the tape up and insert it into the battery. Different cells just require different cans and widths of tape.

petra 9y ago
What about a different chemistry , like Li-Sulfur ? how big of a change the gigafactory will require ?
- hwillis 9y ago
  Most likely very little. Sulfur cathodes would just be deposited on the tape like any other cathode, and the gigafactory could freely switch to any other standard chemistry after some setup time and adjustments. More radical (and also much less likely) changes would have bigger impacts. Lithium metal batteries would probably require replacing some significant machinery. Solid electrolyte or ceramic batteries could need almost an entirely new production line. Metal air batteries would be almost completely incompatable. Realistically, there are probably no changes coming in the next 30 years that will require rebuilding anything significant.
sp332 9y ago
I'm pretty sure Powerwall 2 uses the same 2170 cells as the Model 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall#Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall#Technology and see the note on 2170 cells on this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes#Lithium-ion_batteries_.28rechargeable.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes#Lithium-...
- hwillis 9y ago
  My mistake! You are correct.