Tesla founder Elon Musk promised last year that batteries in the company’s vehicles would eventually be able to run for 1 million miles over the course of their life span — and now researchers have some details on how they plan to make million-mile EV batteries a reality.
Details about the upcoming Tesla batteries were published in The Journal of the Electrochemical Society earlier this month by researchers from Canada’s Dalhousie University who work exclusively with the company, according to Wired. The paper describes a lithium-ion battery than can last for a million miles — roughly double the life span of current Tesla batteries — while losing less than 10% of its energy capacity over the course of its lifetime. A traditional car battery lasts only about 50,000 miles, though it’s not powering the entire vehicle like an EV’s battery would.
According to the paper, researchers conducted three years of testing on the batteries in all kinds of conditions.
“Tests include long-term charge-discharge cycling at 20, 40 and 55°C, long-term storage at 20, 40 and 55°C, and high-precision coulometry at 40°C,” reads the paper.
The batteries are expected to lose 10% of their energy capacity during their lifetime, a modest amount for a lithium-ion battery.
The lithium-ion batteries discussed in the Journal use many of the same materials found in existing lithium-ion batteries in vehicles, but optimized in a way that gives them a significant performance boost.
One of the big differences between the higher-performance batteries and ones currently on the market is the nanostructure of the battery’s cathode. The higher-performance battery uses a larger cathode design, which makes it less likely to develop cracks that can impact performance while it’s charging.
Shortly after the paper was published, Tesla received a patent for a battery similar to the one described in the paper; however, one that is expected to have even better performance than the one described in the Journal.
Earlier this year Tesla purchased battery development company Maxwell Technologies.
At the time of that acquisition, Tesla said “We are always looking for potential acquisitions that make sense for the business and support Tesla’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”.
Maxwell echoed Tesla’s statement, adding that the tie-up offers its investors, “the opportunity to participate in Tesla’s mission of accelerating the advent of sustainable transport and energy.”
Beyond being used in consumer vehicles, the new batteries could become useful in things like long-haul trucks, which drive significantly more miles than the average family car.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.