4 ms·
My understanding is that there's very little demand for Tesla's chemistry (low cobalt NCA). All other automakers prefer NCM, primary because: * better sustaine
by kenhwang 8y ago
My understanding is that there's very little demand for Tesla's chemistry (low cobalt NCA). All other automakers prefer NCM, primary because:
* better sustained performance compared to NCA
* better peak/burst performance compared to NCA
* easy to adjust formula to show preference for capacity, performance, or longevity (most automakers skip on the 3rd)
Tesla prefers NCA battery because:
* it has more capacity / weight
* it's much cheaper due to lower cobalt requirements (main reason)
The main reason traditional automakers tend to shy away from NCA because:
* it is far less stable than NCM, which puts it a much higher risk for fire or explosions
* it costs more than NCM to make stable (I suspect Tesla chem is cutting corners in this area)
You can decide whether the trade off of safety for range is worthwhile for you; traditional automakers err on the side of safety.
- calvano915 8y agoI've encountered many reports of issues with safety regarding autopilot or breakdown/less repairability of the vehicles due to lack of experience in design, but what evidence is there for Tesla cutting corners regarding battery safety specifically?
- kenhwang 8y agoJust the choice of using NCA batteries over NCM could be viewed as a safety cost cutting measure. Here's a scientific paper about the safety of various battery chemistries (warning, PDF): https://res.mdpi.com/wevj/wevj-06-00572/article_deploy/wevj-06-00572.pdf https://res.mdpi.com/wevj/wevj-06-00572/article_deploy/wevj-... Summery is that, compared to NCM, NCA inhibits thermal runaway at much lower temperatures, offers significantly less short circuit resistance, slightly less overcharge buffer before thermal runaway, significantly faster thermal runaway after overcharge buffer is exhausted. The result of thermal runaway is fire or explosion.