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Panasonic makes Tesla's batteries, and as far as I know Tesla doesn't have any proven battery technology that's better than anyone else's. I know people who wor

Panasonic makes Tesla's batteries, and as far as I know Tesla doesn't have any proven battery technology that's better than anyone else's. I know people who work on battery technology. Pretty much every chemistry department at a major university has people working on batteries. You often see publications about breakthrough's in battery tech from these universities. Very few of these alleged breakthrough's make it to market, so I'm skeptical that Tesla can succeed where so many others have not.

codeulike 8y ago
A battery pack in a Tesla car has much more to it than the cells themselves. There are cooling systems, monitoring systems etc. Tesla's battery packs are way ahead of anyone elses and produced at a lower cost per kWh E.g. https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/08/18/how-teslas-battery-strategy-could-drive-strong-margins-on-model-3/#4335e0055cc9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/08/18/ho...
- makomk 8y ago
  I'm pretty sure that GM have been doing their own battery pack testing, R&D and integration for quite some time now, even partnering with a local university to train people on this. The main component they outsource which Tesla develop in-house is the motor and its controller, and that's obviously pretty vehicle-specific.
GW150914 8y ago
You have to understand the narrative you’re responding to. It goes something like this: Elon Musk doesn’t care about making money, he wants to save the world. The money he makes, he just wants to spend on achieving that goal. SpaceX isn’t about making money as a cargo service to Low Earth Orbit, it’s about establishing Mars colonies and the LEO technology is just fundraising for Mars. Tesla isn’t a car company, it’s trying to bring unit price of batteries down, it’s a solar/battery company, the future of clean energy. The whole car thing is just fundraising/PR for world-saving business. If you point out that Tesla is a car company using Panasonic batteries, you get speeches about how they’ll be the next GE and you don’t get it. If you point out that Tesla is up to its eyeballs in debt and can’t peoduce even the cars it tries to make without serious flaws, in a tent, you get speeches about WSJ, Big Oil, Shortsellimf conspiracies. The True Believers ignore the reality of a publicly traded company struggling, in favor of a narrative spun around Musk’s tweets and promises. It’s a cult, I think one born of existential dread about environmental collapse and a desire to see it fixed by a visionary billionaire who tells them they don’t have to make any sacrifices, just buy a fast car. I think that arguing with them ends up with a similar response as criticizing Google 7 or 8 years ago. Some things just have to play out, and until then it’s all “crush the non-believers!” Edit: Again, don’t just downvote, downvote and rebut.
mbesto 8y ago
I'm skeptical too, but that's besides the point. My point is that (1) energy storage, if a breakthrough is achieved, will have a serious economic benefit to Tesla (e.g. profit) and (2) I believe Tesla's strategy isn't just to sell cars, but to compete (and frankly dominate) the energy storage market. And just like Apple needs Samsung and Foxconn to manufacture it's market dominating iPhone, it looks like Tesla needs Panasonic to do the same in the energy storage market.

codeulike 8y ago

A battery pack in a Tesla car has much more to it than the cells themselves. There are cooling systems, monitoring systems etc. Tesla's battery packs are way ahead of anyone elses and produced at a lower cost per kWh E.g. https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/08/18/how-teslas-battery-strategy-could-drive-strong-margins-on-model-3/#4335e0055cc9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/08/18/ho...

makomk 8y ago
I'm pretty sure that GM have been doing their own battery pack testing, R&D and integration for quite some time now, even partnering with a local university to train people on this. The main component they outsource which Tesla develop in-house is the motor and its controller, and that's obviously pretty vehicle-specific.

GW150914 8y ago

You have to understand the narrative you’re responding to. It goes something like this: Elon Musk doesn’t care about making money, he wants to save the world. The money he makes, he just wants to spend on achieving that goal. SpaceX isn’t about making money as a cargo service to Low Earth Orbit, it’s about establishing Mars colonies and the LEO technology is just fundraising for Mars. Tesla isn’t a car company, it’s trying to bring unit price of batteries down, it’s a solar/battery company, the future of clean energy. The whole car thing is just fundraising/PR for world-saving business. If you point out that Tesla is a car company using Panasonic batteries, you get speeches about how they’ll be the next GE and you don’t get it. If you point out that Tesla is up to its eyeballs in debt and can’t peoduce even the cars it tries to make without serious flaws, in a tent, you get speeches about WSJ, Big Oil, Shortsellimf conspiracies. The True Believers ignore the reality of a publicly traded company struggling, in favor of a narrative spun around Musk’s tweets and promises. It’s a cult, I think one born of existential dread about environmental collapse and a desire to see it fixed by a visionary billionaire who tells them they don’t have to make any sacrifices, just buy a fast car. I think that arguing with them ends up with a similar response as criticizing Google 7 or 8 years ago. Some things just have to play out, and until then it’s all “crush the non-believers!” Edit: Again, don’t just downvote, downvote and rebut.

mbesto 8y ago

I'm skeptical too, but that's besides the point. My point is that (1) energy storage, if a breakthrough is achieved, will have a serious economic benefit to Tesla (e.g. profit) and (2) I believe Tesla's strategy isn't just to sell cars, but to compete (and frankly dominate) the energy storage market. And just like Apple needs Samsung and Foxconn to manufacture it's market dominating iPhone, it looks like Tesla needs Panasonic to do the same in the energy storage market.