A battery pack producer has launched a brand new answer for Tesla Roadster with ageing battery packs. It might slash the automotive’s weight by about 400 lbs, but it surely’s not low-cost.
In some ways, the Tesla Roadster sparked the electrical automobile revolution.
It was the primary commercially out there shopper EV with lithium battery cells – enabling over 200 miles of vary on a single cost.
The automobile had comparable or higher efficiency than many different gas-powered automobiles in its section.
The Roadster had its downside. It was a suboptimal answer because it was nonetheless closely primarily based on the Lotus Elise and never designed from the bottom as much as be electrical, but it surely did its job as a proof-of-concept.
Tesla solely manufactured about 2,000 of them between 2008 and 2011 earlier than transferring on to the Mannequin S and different automobile packages that had been constructed to be electrical from the bottom up.
Regardless of being 13 to 16 years outdated, many Roadsters are nonetheless doing nicely. Electrek’s personal Jamie Dow drives his day by day. That’s regardless of Tesla not doing something with the Roadster program since 2017 when it launched the Roadster 3.0 substitute pack.
Battery expertise has improved loads since then, and an organization has determined to reap the benefits of that and supply a brand new battery pack for Tesla Roadster homeowners.
re/cell, a Texas-based provider of remanufactured battery packs for EVs, has unveiled a brand new Roadster battery pack that goals to slash tons of of kilos off of the sports activities automotive.
Not like Tesla’s newest automobiles, that are outfitted with skateboard-like platform battery packs, the Roadster has a pack that sits behind the seats within the again and the modules are within the form seen above.
It does trigger issues with balancing the load of the automobile.
The pack is ready to obtain the Roadster’s peak energy output, but it surely must be much more enjoyable to drive by shaving as much as 400 lbs off of the automotive’s authentic 2,877 lb (1,305 kg) weight.
It does include a decrease power capability than the unique 53 kWh, however you need to be capable of obtain very related vary (over 220 miles) due to the effectivity acquire from the load loss.
Listed below are the total specs of re/cell’s new Roadster battery substitute pack:
- Peak Energy Output: 260 kW / 285 kW
- Weight Financial savings: as much as 400 lbs / 180 kg
- Quantity Financial savings: 3.7 cu ft / 100 liters
- Power Capability: 38 kWh / 47 kWh
- Rated Vary: 220-240 miles / 350-390 km
- Cell Sort: 18650 / 3500 mAh
- Cell Configuration: 31p99s / 39p99s
re/cell describes a few of the enhancements that they had been capable of make to the pack:
The revolutionary cooling-block design is a single-piece molded core with Palladium-class cooling ribbons for improved cooling and temperature administration. The contact space for warmth switch is 50x bigger than the cooling tubes used within the authentic Roadster sheets and the general floor space for cooling and heating is now greater than double. No extra vacant cooling voids permitting for decent spots or uneven cooling or heating – the whole cell is now totally encapsulated and temperature managed!
Nevertheless, this supply just isn’t going to be for everybody since Roadster homeowners should be prepared to speculate $28,000 of their ageing automobile, which is the value of the pack when you give your present pack to re/cell.
Apparently, the corporate can be excited about providing different upgrades that may be enabled by house freed up by the brand new pack.
For instance, re/cell believes it could be simpler to make the pack able to DC fast-charging. liquid cooling for the PEM and MotorÂ
Electrek’s Take
I actually loved driving the Roadster 3.0, and I’d be curious to see how significantly better it could deal with with 14% much less weight.
There are simply no different electrical automobiles on the market that weigh simply 2,400 lbs. Even a Fiat 500e weighs practically 3,000 lbs.
I can’t look ahead to small electrical sports activities automobiles round 2,500 lbs. They need to be a lot enjoyable and it seems like this, regardless of not being designed from the bottom up for it, may very well be an fascinating preview.
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