TESLA: Battery Day
Elon Musk and Tesla presented this long anticipated announcement to the shareholders social distanced by staying in their cars and honking for approval yesterday. Here's the full talk and Q&A:
It was quite the nerdy and technical talk and VERY long, but here are some of the key bits of information...
Better Batteries
Tesla has designed new batteries that are bigger and tabless. Tabless just means that the electrons flow through the battery faster without making it hot giving it 5 times the energy, 6 times the power, and 16% more range for vehicles.
Cheap Car
Elon promised that a $25,000 electric car, which he hasn't thought of a name of yet, will be released within three years. I think that he often forgets that the rest of the world isn't as smart and as fast as he is, and things can sometimes take two to three times longer than he thinks that they will, but I hope it's true.
The Battery IS The Car
Taking his inspiration from aircraft design, Elon Musk said that batteries will now be a part of the structure of the vehicle and not just dead weight. Not that I think I'm anywhere as smart as Elon, but I had this idea about an electric bicycle a long time ago. I was wondering why the entire frame of the bicycle isn't the battery instead of the heavy box it is today. It will still be heavy, but a frame filled with batteries could pack a lot of juice.
ICE is Dead
I've honestly have never heard of the acronym ICE (internal combustion engine) until this presentation today. When asked what he thought of it. Elon dismissed it and said it is dead long term. He believes only collectors will have them in the future.
New Supercar
With this new technology, they were able to make a very fast car. It broke all of the zero to 60 and zero to 100 records and will be the fastest commercial car ever produced. They call it the Model S Plaid.
Resources:
Wall Street Journal:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-battery-day-elon-musk-shareholder-meeting-11600802500
Road & Track:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a34115628/tesla-model-s-plaid-specs-acceleration-range/