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I heard Mercedes group got paired with a battery maker called Farsis Energy. I've heard all kind of fishy things about them, including completely out of this w

I heard Mercedes group got paired with a battery maker called Farsis Energy. I've heard all kind of fishy things about them, including completely out of this world claims of energy density advances. Yet, I have yet to see a single real world use of their battery tech, which they claimed to have for the last 3 years. On the net, I've seen the claim of them being caught faking their capacity test video with the most poor editing tricks. P.S. The Mercedes may have well just been scammed: https://www.businessinsider.com/mercedes-new-battery-partner-farasis-disappointed-the-quality-of-first-cells-is-catastrophic https://www.businessinsider.com/mercedes-new-battery-partner..., https://www.electrive.com/2021/02/23/problems-mounting-for-daimler-battery-supplier-farasis/ https://www.electrive.com/2021/02/23/problems-mounting-for-d..., https://www.electrive.com/2021/07/12/farasis-battery-production-in-saxony-delayed/ https://www.electrive.com/2021/07/12/farasis-battery-product..., https://carbuzz.com/news/mercedes-ev-production-has-just-hit-a-catastrophic-snag https://carbuzz.com/news/mercedes-ev-production-has-just-hit...

simion314 5y ago
Maybe in the present there is some rush for batteries but in general this automakers buy the parts from others, they offer a project for component X to 3 different factories and then they chose a winner. The other 2 factories though sometimes will still make the market and sell it so customers always have the option to use an "official" replacement or other compatible one.
- baybal2 5y ago
  I see this is how it will end, but the seemingly physically impossible claims are from Farsis only. They claim unique chemistry, unique cell packaging, unique proprietary circuitry inside their cells, and unique cooling solution. I doubt they were going for a multi-vendor option here from the start, but they may well be forced too once Farsis will crash, and burn.
adrian_b 5y ago
This Mercedes announcement does not seem to be related to any special expectations about the battery. From what they say, a battery of 100 kWh is supposed to be used for this range and such battery packs already exist. Mercedes claims that their car will use less than 0.1 kWh per km, at normal highway driving speeds. So it seems that they rely on advances in motor efficiency and regenerative braking efficiency and in a low drag coefficient.
- baybal2 5y ago
  > Mercedes claims that their car will use less than 0.1 kWh per km, at normal highway driving speeds. I guess you will still need a class leading battery capacity to get anywhere near this, and will still be really physically challenging to squeeze 100kWh of cells into a small sedan.
  - adrian_b 5y ago
    There already are Tesla Model S with 100 kWh battery packs and also many other cars with such a pack, so this should be a solved problem. On the other hand, Tesla Model S consumes about double compared with what Mercedes claims for their future prototype, so there is where Mercedes hopes to improve over what already exists.
    - baybal2 5y ago
      > There already are Tesla Model S with 100 kWh battery packs and also many other cars with such a pack, so this should be a solved problem. And models S is a full sized sedan, not a compact car by any extend.

simion314 5y ago

Maybe in the present there is some rush for batteries but in general this automakers buy the parts from others, they offer a project for component X to 3 different factories and then they chose a winner. The other 2 factories though sometimes will still make the market and sell it so customers always have the option to use an "official" replacement or other compatible one.

baybal2 5y ago
I see this is how it will end, but the seemingly physically impossible claims are from Farsis only. They claim unique chemistry, unique cell packaging, unique proprietary circuitry inside their cells, and unique cooling solution. I doubt they were going for a multi-vendor option here from the start, but they may well be forced too once Farsis will crash, and burn.

adrian_b 5y ago

This Mercedes announcement does not seem to be related to any special expectations about the battery. From what they say, a battery of 100 kWh is supposed to be used for this range and such battery packs already exist. Mercedes claims that their car will use less than 0.1 kWh per km, at normal highway driving speeds. So it seems that they rely on advances in motor efficiency and regenerative braking efficiency and in a low drag coefficient.

baybal2 5y ago
> Mercedes claims that their car will use less than 0.1 kWh per km, at normal highway driving speeds. I guess you will still need a class leading battery capacity to get anywhere near this, and will still be really physically challenging to squeeze 100kWh of cells into a small sedan.
- adrian_b 5y ago
  There already are Tesla Model S with 100 kWh battery packs and also many other cars with such a pack, so this should be a solved problem. On the other hand, Tesla Model S consumes about double compared with what Mercedes claims for their future prototype, so there is where Mercedes hopes to improve over what already exists.
  - baybal2 5y ago
    > There already are Tesla Model S with 100 kWh battery packs and also many other cars with such a pack, so this should be a solved problem. And models S is a full sized sedan, not a compact car by any extend.