4 ms·

so it's a fuse that costs $5k or $10k. is it made from 5oz-10oz of solid platinum? what am i missing here [1]? [1] http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url

so it's a fuse that costs $5k or $10k. is it made from 5oz-10oz of solid platinum? what am i missing here [1]? [1] http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=300a+fuse&rh=n%3A15684181%2Ck%3A300a+fuse http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3D...

nacs 11y ago
I'm sure there are other hardware upgrades involved to achieve that than just a single fuse.
- neurotech1 11y ago
  They probably also factor in that cars driven with "Ludicrous" acceleration may have statistical higher warranty claims.
murbard2 11y ago
Supply and demand... For every 1000 Tesla owner willing to pay $5, more than one of them is willing to pay $5k.
AndrewKemendo 11y ago
They determined that people will pay 5-10k for the additional speed. Nothing more than that probably.
- Khao 11y ago
  These people are funding more R&D from Tesla so they can develop their next gen affordable electric car.
outworlder 11y ago
What you are missing is that it's a 1500A fuse. Source: http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-got-upgraded-to-ludicrous-speed-1718577723 http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-got-upgraded-to-l... > While working on our goal of making the power train last a million miles, we came up with the idea for an advanced smart fuse for the battery. Instead of a standard fuse that just melts past a certain amperage, which means you aren’t exactly sure when it will or won’t melt or if it will arc when it does, we developed a fuse with its own electronics and a tiny lithium-ion battery. It constantly monitors current at the millisecond level and is pyro-actuated to cut power with extreme precision and certainty. That was combined with upgrading the main pack contractor to use inconel (a high temperature space-grade superalloy) instead of steel, so that it remains springy under the heat of heavy current. The net result is that we can safely increase max amp throughout from 1300 to 1500 Amps. If you don’t know much about Amps, trust me this is a silly big number of Amps to be going through something the size of your little fingernail. What this results in is a 10% improvement in the 0 to 60 mph time to 2.8 secs and a quarter mile time of 10.9 secs. Time to 155 mph is improved even more, resulting in a 20% reduction.
- HCIdivision17 11y ago
  Oh jeez. Never mind my sibling comment - this sucker seems hellaciously sophisticated, far more so than I was imagining. An active fuse that carries 1.5kA that's the size of a finger? I've seen fuses wider than my wrist blam for less.
- pbreit 11y ago
  What a fantastic read! I wonder if they get any tech or materials from SpaceX?
  - johncolanduoni 11y ago
    Hopefully once they iron out the kinks in space travel they can release it to the Tesla with a software upgrade, or maybe an even better fuse!
  - outworlder 11y ago
    Well, SpaceX uses inconel. They also must have a quite good understanding of pyrotechnics, as they need to use that in a lot of places, eg. stage separation. So I'd say yes, at least on the tech transfer part.
    - damoncali 11y ago
      Inconel has been around for decades. It's just a nickel alloy. Nothing terribly special about that.
    - dasmoth 11y ago
      SpaceX seem to try pretty hard to avoid pyros -- one reason I've heard is that pyro devices can't be tested! i believe they do still use a few, but pretty sure not for stage separation.
    - grkvlt 11y ago
      I don't think so. At least, it hasn't been publicly reported as far as I know. So although I'm not saying it's impossible, I'd be very interested to know the source for your statement?
HCIdivision17 11y ago
Without the performance characteristics for the fuse, I wouldn't imagine it would be cheap. Specialized electronic components are usually very expensive, especially if they're never mass produced and engineered to a specific task (component ICs for devices in space face the same issue). That engineering is pretty damn expensive, the tooling to make the small run of components is expensive, and quality control is expensive. Make a few hundred million and those costs vanish compared to the input materials, compared to a few thousand components where the overhead dominates.
roel_v 11y ago
Market segmentation. How do you get people to pay you another 10k? With a widget that is useless but has huge bragging value. People who don't care about 10k will spend it on this, and those who do care will have no different lives.
neurotech1 11y ago
Not sure about the P85D specifically but the regular 85 KWh battery pack fuse[0] is $272 (min order 3) from Digi-Key [1] [0] http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/37023-P85D-Power-draw-numbers-do-not-add-up http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/37023-P85D-Pow... [1] http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/170M4416/170M4416-ND/1875780 http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/170M4416/170M4416-N...
elchief 11y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-based_pricing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-based_pricing

nacs 11y ago

I'm sure there are other hardware upgrades involved to achieve that than just a single fuse.

neurotech1 11y ago
They probably also factor in that cars driven with "Ludicrous" acceleration may have statistical higher warranty claims.

murbard2 11y ago

Supply and demand... For every 1000 Tesla owner willing to pay $5, more than one of them is willing to pay $5k.

AndrewKemendo 11y ago

They determined that people will pay 5-10k for the additional speed. Nothing more than that probably.

Khao 11y ago
These people are funding more R&D from Tesla so they can develop their next gen affordable electric car.

outworlder 11y ago

What you are missing is that it's a 1500A fuse. Source: http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-got-upgraded-to-ludicrous-speed-1718577723 http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-got-upgraded-to-l... > While working on our goal of making the power train last a million miles, we came up with the idea for an advanced smart fuse for the battery. Instead of a standard fuse that just melts past a certain amperage, which means you aren’t exactly sure when it will or won’t melt or if it will arc when it does, we developed a fuse with its own electronics and a tiny lithium-ion battery. It constantly monitors current at the millisecond level and is pyro-actuated to cut power with extreme precision and certainty. That was combined with upgrading the main pack contractor to use inconel (a high temperature space-grade superalloy) instead of steel, so that it remains springy under the heat of heavy current. The net result is that we can safely increase max amp throughout from 1300 to 1500 Amps. If you don’t know much about Amps, trust me this is a silly big number of Amps to be going through something the size of your little fingernail. What this results in is a 10% improvement in the 0 to 60 mph time to 2.8 secs and a quarter mile time of 10.9 secs. Time to 155 mph is improved even more, resulting in a 20% reduction.

HCIdivision17 11y ago
Oh jeez. Never mind my sibling comment - this sucker seems hellaciously sophisticated, far more so than I was imagining. An active fuse that carries 1.5kA that's the size of a finger? I've seen fuses wider than my wrist blam for less.
pbreit 11y ago
What a fantastic read! I wonder if they get any tech or materials from SpaceX?
- johncolanduoni 11y ago
  Hopefully once they iron out the kinks in space travel they can release it to the Tesla with a software upgrade, or maybe an even better fuse!
- outworlder 11y ago
  Well, SpaceX uses inconel. They also must have a quite good understanding of pyrotechnics, as they need to use that in a lot of places, eg. stage separation. So I'd say yes, at least on the tech transfer part.
  - damoncali 11y ago
    Inconel has been around for decades. It's just a nickel alloy. Nothing terribly special about that.
  - dasmoth 11y ago
    SpaceX seem to try pretty hard to avoid pyros -- one reason I've heard is that pyro devices can't be tested! i believe they do still use a few, but pretty sure not for stage separation.
  - grkvlt 11y ago
    I don't think so. At least, it hasn't been publicly reported as far as I know. So although I'm not saying it's impossible, I'd be very interested to know the source for your statement?

HCIdivision17 11y ago

Without the performance characteristics for the fuse, I wouldn't imagine it would be cheap. Specialized electronic components are usually very expensive, especially if they're never mass produced and engineered to a specific task (component ICs for devices in space face the same issue). That engineering is pretty damn expensive, the tooling to make the small run of components is expensive, and quality control is expensive. Make a few hundred million and those costs vanish compared to the input materials, compared to a few thousand components where the overhead dominates.

roel_v 11y ago

Market segmentation. How do you get people to pay you another 10k? With a widget that is useless but has huge bragging value. People who don't care about 10k will spend it on this, and those who do care will have no different lives.

neurotech1 11y ago

Not sure about the P85D specifically but the regular 85 KWh battery pack fuse[0] is $272 (min order 3) from Digi-Key [1] [0] http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/37023-P85D-Power-draw-numbers-do-not-add-up http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/37023-P85D-Pow... [1] http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/170M4416/170M4416-ND/1875780 http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/170M4416/170M4416-N...

elchief 11y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-based_pricing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-based_pricing