Panasonic delivers over 100 million lithium-ion battery cells for Tesla Model S

maybe they can loan a few to Boeing 787 Dreamliner

So they've shipped 100 million units to a car company that is selling 20,000 cars a year? How many batteries does each of those cars use?!?

@stephen Knight About 7000 cells per 85kWh battery.

There are 7,000 cells for the 85kwh pack which will give you are range of 265 km (EPA). With the 85kwh pack, 0-97 km/h in 4.2 sec with a top speed of 210 km/h. Supercharger charging time is 30 minutes for 240 km.

ka_chanJun. 14, 2013 - 06:05AM JSTWith the 85kwh pack, 0-97 km/h in 4.2 sec with a top speed of 210 km/h. Supercharger charging time is 30 minutes for 240 km.

The battery car like Tesla is a waste of money. It's more of a fashion. The replacement of the battery can run you $30K on Tesla. Can you drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas or Salt Lake City? You might be stuck in the desert with Tesla looking for a tow truck. Putting gas in the the internal combustion engine takes 5 minutes and the range is 500km. And the performance of $55K Corvette is equal or better than Tesla. Compare Corvette, BMW M3, or base Porsche 911, Tesla is worthless.

@ka_chan - It gets 265 miles(EPA) that is 426 km.

@sfjp330 - We do not know the replacement cost of the battery at this point, all speculation about the battery cost is just that speculation. With that said, Tesla Model S 85kwh comes with 8 year unlimited miles no fault warranty. So there is no reason to really care for the consumer. Can you drive from LA to Vegas? the answer is yes, many have already done just that on their Model S. As far as from LA to SLC, by winter 2013 you will be able to.

The chances of you being stuck in the desert and needing a tow truck is unlikely. The car tells you what range you have so there is no reason that you would be stuck unless you plan to be stuck on purpose. Mostly considering that any outlet can be used to charge the car.

Right, but what are you going to do if you ran out of gas in the middle of the desert and there is no gas station for 50 miles? call a tow truck?

If you are in the market for a 55k corvette you might as well buy a 13k ford fiesta it is equal or better then a Corvette.

Lets be serious here, the Tesla Model S is superior to a corvette, M5 and the Porsche 911. You have to drive one to understand.

weapon Jun. 14, 2013 - 05:15PM JST We do not know the replacement cost of the battery at this point, all speculation about the battery cost is just that speculation. With that said, Tesla Model S 85kwh comes with 8 year unlimited miles no fault warranty. So there is no reason to really care for the consumer. Can you drive from LA to Vegas? the answer is yes, many have already done just that on their Model S. As far as from LA to SLC, by winter 2013 you will be able to.

Assuming someone can pry a 900lb energy storage system out of Tesla and that your insurance won't pay. Perhaps change insurance company. Tesla has said that the replacement cost is about $30,000. The expected life of the battery is about 10 years. With 15-20mph Tesla S could go 400 miles in good conditions. With 75mph, the range is only about 170 miles. In other words you get a lot bigger range in slow city traffic than in highways. In Tesla, 30,000 dollars battery cost for a 50,000 dollar s-model is absolutely insane and will loose potential customers.

Source: http://www.teslamotors.com

@sfjp330 - Incorrect, Tesla has not said the cost of the batteries at all. This is a common misconception based on poor journalism. The 30k cost was the replacement cost of the Tesla Roadster battery, not the Model S. The roadster used LCO chemistry and is 5 years old. The Tesla Model S uses a different battery based on NCA chemistry and the price is unknown. What we do know is that it is a modified version on the panasonic ncr18650a cells. That said, Tesla offers an 8 year unlimited miles no fault warranty, so again the consumer won't really ever know.

The lifespan of the battery based on NCA chemistry and the cycle tests on the pansonic batteries is around 15-20 years and over 500k miles.

And yes, there was a person who got their model s to go 425 miles when traveling 18 mph in good condition. For you to get 170 miles you would have to: 1) not be using range mode 2) be in extremely cold weather 3) be going 85mph with rapid acceleration.

There was a new youtube video where they tested a model s in norway (without winter package) and drove in the freezing cold and snow, they were driving 70mph and they also took some time to do snow drifting in circles and everything and still got 190 miles. With the winter package it will be a lot higher.

I also don't see why the cost of the battery is going to lose Model S customers , please explain.

@weapon, Batteries are a dead end technology for cars. Period. it may work for short range commuter cars. but it doesn't work if you acutally want to go anyplace near it's max range.

@sfjp330 - I hope your joking. Batteries are no where close to being dead end technology. For reference, batteries improve every 2-3 years at a pace that takes gasoline engines 30 years to improve.

As I mentioned Tesla uses panasonic ncr18650a 3.1ah cells, but these are not the newest cells. Since then panasonic has release 3.4ah cells and this year they released 4.0ah cells.

Tesla and GM already have 500 mile batteries that they are testing which will go commercial in 3-4 years.

With current chemistry, assuming we don't invent a super battery temperature management system. The limit of current battery chemistry is around 600 miles on 1 charge. And you can recharge 480 miles per minute with battery lasting 50-100 years. (That is the limit of current battery chemistry)

Then we have next generation batteries which should be ready within 10 years. This includes metal-air batteries and solid state batteries. These batteries can go from 1000 miles to 3000 miles on 1 charge and charge to full in minutes.

Beyond batteries, there is ultracapacitators.

So don't worry, there is plenty of room ahead.

The battery pack in Tesla weighs heavy 900 lbs. (400kg)! and comparable conventional internal combustion engine produces 400hp of hp in Porsche 911, BMW 4.4 or Nissan V6 engine and still weighs less than 280 lbs., which is less than one third of the weight of tesla powerplant. What this tells you is that Tesla got long way to go to be comparable to performance and range of internal combustion engine.

Since according to hybridcars.com, Tesla already sold 8.850 model S cars from January to May 2013, the previous numbers imply that Tesla will be ready to deliver this year 2.136 more EVs than it originally planned (21.000).

@sfjp330 - Why does the weight matter? The center of gravity more then makes up for the weight. When you have some of the best handling, good speed and acceleration, what does it matter? Also, batteries store energy, not generate energy, so calling it a power plant would be inaccurate. The benefits of EVs far outweigh the negatives.

@Juan, Tesla already mentioned they are expecting 23-25k cars this year when goldman sachs was evaluating them.

weapon Jun. 19, 2013 - 07:04AM JST Why does the weight matter? The center of gravity more then makes up for the weight. When you have some of the best handling, good speed and acceleration, what does it matter?

Weight matters alot. Tesla S weighs 4650 lbs, and the battery pack weighs 900 lbs, this is a very heavy car. It takes alot more energy to move this much weight. Comparable performer, the BMW 535 weights 4050 lbs with 3.0 6 cylinder, at 300hp and the engine weighs 375lbs. Since Tesla battery pack weighs 525 lbs then the BMW, it's same as if you are carrying three passengers in your car. BMW has freeway range of 400 miles and it only takes 5 minutes to fill it up.

@sfjp330 - I am guessing your comparing it to the 60kwh model which also has 300hp? because the 85kwh model would smoke a BMW 535. The 60kwh model is 183lb lighter then the 85kwh model.

While the BMW 535 may have 400 miles range and fill up in 5 minutes, it also has some disadvantages. For one, you have to go out of your way to visit a gas station every 2 weeks. That is a minimum of 15 min wasted every 2 weeks while the model s will have full ranage every day. Then you will be paying over 5x more for gasoline over electricity. On top of that the Tesla Model S is the safest mass produced car in the industry. (It it is made out of the same material as airplanes, so PSA, if your about to crash against a BMW 535 or a Tesla Model S, go for the BMW)

And if you missed it, Tesla demoed a battery swap that they plan to add to all superchargers which will get you to full power in 90 seconds.

weapon Jun. 21, 2013 - 01:56PM JST I am guessing your comparing it to the 60kwh model which also has 300hp? because the 85kwh model would smoke a BMW 535.

I was comparing the similar price vehicle to Tesla S. If you want to compare high end Tesla to $90K BMW M5, the M5 will smoke Tesla whether in straight accelation (0-60 3.6, 1/4 mile at 12.0 122mph) or on the road course race. Tesla does not keep up with any of the lesser price cars as $75K Corvette Z06, ZL-1, or $55K Mustang Shelby Turbo. The car is way too heavy for quality handling car and for the price, it's a piece of junk.

@sfjp330 - I am guessing you didn't see the Automobile Magazine drag race a Tesla Model S vs an M5 and the Model S smoked the M5.

The Corvette Z06 is not a sedan and has poor handling in comparison to a Model S. ZL-1 is not a sedan either. And neither is a Mustang Shelby Turbo.

Your speaking with complete ignorance, the Tesla Model S has some of the best handling. With the performance plus package it can keep up with 200k supercars. I suggest you test drive one before you criticize any further. The weight is more then made up for by the center of gravity. Every auto magazine praised the Model S for superb handling.

weapon, look at the 2 mile road race at Laguna Seca between BMW M5, Porsche, and Tesla S.

http://www.my-hondacars.com/honda-video/civic-2013/bmw-m5-versus-tesla-s-at-laguna-seca-V-LWsyNitKyC8.htm

@sfjp330 - Your losing more and more credibility with each post, you are aware that there is no Tesla S in that video? Only a Porsche Cayman R and a BMW M5 right? If you read the post included, it also confirms that only 2 cars are racing, not 3.