Carmakers want to ditch battery packs, use auto bodies for energy storage | Hacker News Reader

Carmakers want to ditch battery packs, use auto bodies for energy storage

arstechnica.com

7 pointsnathandaly6 comments

I don't see how "structural" batteries can be viable with the technology we have today.

I think it's understood that your battery for your EV will not last the life of the vehicle. By making the fame/chassis of the vehicle one big battery, you remove the ability to replace the battery down the road and consequentially artificially reduce the lifespan of the EV. When making environmental considerations, EV lifespan should be part of the calculus.

> I think it's understood that your battery for your EV will not last the life of the vehicle.

Tesla's existing Model S and X battery packs are showing longevity well into 300k-400k miles. Tesla is targeting 500k-1 million miles of battery and motor longevity over the vehicle's service life (supposedly the Model 3 motor meets this service life, and is the same motor to be used in the Class 8 Semi). Under these assumptions, structural architecture for batteries is reasonable.

You could use fasteners like bolts, interlocking physical structures and maybe even things like hot glue and have structural batteries that are still dismantleable every 10 years.

For example airplanes have interchangeable structural parts like wings, even when weight is at premium.

I wonder why mopeds don't do this. Put the battery in the seat tube or some such. It seems an optimal spot in the transportation speed/size/range/cost space. Yet I've not seen an electric moped in my town.

In higher quality electric bikes, most companies put batteries into the down tube or create a channel for a battery. In mopeds I imagine the batteries are larger and they are aiming for much cheaper prices. A good electric bike will cost more than a gas moped.

Cheaper electric bikes tend to be off the shelf parts and so you don't see integrated stuff. Usually batteries are in bottle cages, rear racks, or a "Shark Fin".

Here is integrated: https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/current

Here is a good, but inexpensive shark fin one: https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrover-electric-fat...

This article was more interesting than it's title made it sound, IMO

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