4 ms·
> No one is going to want to drive on sodium batteries, which are merely good, rather than good enough. We're talking about the weight of a Tesla with the range
by vosper 5y ago
> No one is going to want to drive on sodium batteries, which are merely good, rather than good enough. We're talking about the weight of a Tesla with the range of a Leaf, as a best case scenario.
Do many people care about the weight of their car? I would bet most people couldn’t tell you what their car weighs with any accuracy (me, for one).
People happily drive giant heavy trucks (like an F150) for much shorter distances than the range of a Leaf.
Or weight matters for some other reason? Shipping?
- wmf 5y agoStating the obvious: A car has to move its own weight, so heavy batteries combined with a wimpy motor could result in poor acceleration.
- panick21_ 5y agoAcceleration is the last problem EV have.
- robbedpeter 5y agoThe energy required to move increases with mass. More energy, more pollution. We want more efficiency, not less. More mass also means collisions are higher energy, so crash and pedestrian safety become an issue at lower speeds. The tradeoffs have to justify the extra weight, so money saved on batteries has to exceed money spent on stronger frames, etc. I think Tesla is playing at the edges, so it's probably safe to say inefficient (heavier) batteries aren't going to be feasible.
- panick21_ 5y agoBy that logic people now wouldn't use LFP. Demand is huge, and a slightly bigger/heavier battery is totally acceptable if the battery can be cheaper. The reality is it is better to produce more EV even with batteries that are not at peak density specially if they are cheaper. As I pointed out, Sodium could get reasonably to LFP. So just as we moved from NMC to LFP, we will move from LFP to Sodium. That doesn't mean NMC or LFP will go away. All of the above are needed.