4 ms·

The trouble spot with Superchargers is usually the end of the charge, not the beginning. The batteries can usually absorb energy rather quickly when at a low r

The trouble spot with Superchargers is usually the end of the charge, not the beginning. The batteries can usually absorb energy rather quickly when at a low rate of charge. What is really painful is the last 10% where the charge rate drops line a stone. What would be an interesting use of this idea would be to have 10% capacity onboard in capacitors. Once you get within 10% of the desired charge level in the batteries, you quickly charge the capacitors, which then trickles into the battery over time. This might allow you to increase the overall charge rate for the car which would help reduce wait times at Superchargers.

tedsanders 8y ago
Far better would be to add 10% battery capacity, which would have the same net effect for cheaper. If you're not going to be using the high power of a supercapacitor, there's zero reason to pay a premium.
- agent86 8y ago
  The trouble with that is to a certain extent we're just kicking the can down the road. Modern Tesla vehicles have more range than older ones, yet people still charge modern ones to 100% for various reasons. The idea here is to leverage their incredibly fast rate of charge and short term nature to reduce time spent Supercharging. Very roughly speaking, you can charge from 0-90% in an hour, but to go from 90-100% can take almost another hour. If you could get the car to 90% and then very rapidly charge the capacitors with the remaining 10% that trickles in, you get the car off the charger faster. In theory you could almost double the number of cars you could serve at that station.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Tesla is rolling out a firmware update that will prevent you from charging above 90% at high contention Superchargers. Simple solution.
  - Dylan16807 8y ago
    That's just lying to yourself about what "100%" is, by excluding the caps. It's again easier to add more battery and pretend it doesn't exist for reaching 'full charge'. That will also give you better battery longevity.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

tedsanders 8y ago

Far better would be to add 10% battery capacity, which would have the same net effect for cheaper. If you're not going to be using the high power of a supercapacitor, there's zero reason to pay a premium.

agent86 8y ago
The trouble with that is to a certain extent we're just kicking the can down the road. Modern Tesla vehicles have more range than older ones, yet people still charge modern ones to 100% for various reasons. The idea here is to leverage their incredibly fast rate of charge and short term nature to reduce time spent Supercharging. Very roughly speaking, you can charge from 0-90% in an hour, but to go from 90-100% can take almost another hour. If you could get the car to 90% and then very rapidly charge the capacitors with the remaining 10% that trickles in, you get the car off the charger faster. In theory you could almost double the number of cars you could serve at that station.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Tesla is rolling out a firmware update that will prevent you from charging above 90% at high contention Superchargers. Simple solution.
- Dylan16807 8y ago
  That's just lying to yourself about what "100%" is, by excluding the caps. It's again easier to add more battery and pretend it doesn't exist for reaching 'full charge'. That will also give you better battery longevity.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]