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Unfortunately some OEM's have decided that structural batteries are the way of the future. Real difficult replace something that's a integral structural member

Unfortunately some OEM's have decided that structural batteries are the way of the future. Real difficult replace something that's a integral structural member of the car

SECProto 5y ago
> Real difficult replace something that's a integral structural member of the car If you look at some recent photos [1] of the Tesla Berlin tour, the "structural battery pack" is still a bolt-in part of the car - it just carries some of the loads and has the seats bolted to it. If it's a standardized design, eg used for multiple model years, it should be a fairly standard replacement part in another decade or so. And the more efficient structural will reduce steel consumption by thousands of tonnes per year and reduce curb weight and increase mileage. Win-win-win for the environment. I'm an optimist. [1] https://electrek.co/2021/10/10/tesla-unveils-new-structural-battery-pack-with-4680-cells-gigafactory-berlin/ https://electrek.co/2021/10/10/tesla-unveils-new-structural-...
- waiseristy 5y ago
  Nice link, looks like they still might have enough meat on the chassis to not require weird temporary structural bracing when unbolting the pack. It's almost like a body-on-pack, like the body-on-frame of old.
panick21_ 5y ago
There has been this myth around that 'structural' means 'non replaceable'. This is complete nonsense made up by ignorant people who dislike Tesla. Structural packs are nothing new, even cars like the iPace have structural packs and so do many. Hell even the Model S was structural and that had a swapable battery. Tesla or BYD structural packs are no different. The actual innovation when people talk about 'structural packs' nowdays is that the cell themselves are part of the structure. However, this has nothing to do with how the pack is connected to the car. Sadly the discussion on these topic gets totally confused by people endlessly repeating the same myths without understanding what they are talking about. Just don't get into a car crash without the pack inside.

Unfortunately some OEM's have decided that structural batteries are the way of the future. Real difficult replace something that's a integral structural member of the car

SECProto 5y ago

> Real difficult replace something that's a integral structural member of the car If you look at some recent photos [1] of the Tesla Berlin tour, the "structural battery pack" is still a bolt-in part of the car - it just carries some of the loads and has the seats bolted to it. If it's a standardized design, eg used for multiple model years, it should be a fairly standard replacement part in another decade or so. And the more efficient structural will reduce steel consumption by thousands of tonnes per year and reduce curb weight and increase mileage. Win-win-win for the environment. I'm an optimist. [1] https://electrek.co/2021/10/10/tesla-unveils-new-structural-battery-pack-with-4680-cells-gigafactory-berlin/ https://electrek.co/2021/10/10/tesla-unveils-new-structural-...

waiseristy 5y ago
Nice link, looks like they still might have enough meat on the chassis to not require weird temporary structural bracing when unbolting the pack. It's almost like a body-on-pack, like the body-on-frame of old.

panick21_ 5y ago

There has been this myth around that 'structural' means 'non replaceable'. This is complete nonsense made up by ignorant people who dislike Tesla. Structural packs are nothing new, even cars like the iPace have structural packs and so do many. Hell even the Model S was structural and that had a swapable battery. Tesla or BYD structural packs are no different. The actual innovation when people talk about 'structural packs' nowdays is that the cell themselves are part of the structure. However, this has nothing to do with how the pack is connected to the car. Sadly the discussion on these topic gets totally confused by people endlessly repeating the same myths without understanding what they are talking about. Just don't get into a car crash without the pack inside.