Ford to build electric vehicle battery plants in Kentucky, creating 5,000 new jobs (2023 Update)

Ha! That was a good list.

There's a tendency to be nostalgic for the things we grew up with. I like the Legend of Zelda personally

I don't think 2170 is a standard size. My car has 18650 cells which may be what you are thinking of since they *are* a common standard size. The 2170 was created for the newer models and it seems you can buy them now on the market... maybe. So I guess it's going to become a standard size. I also found mention of a 2070 size, so go figure! Are there any sizes that aren't a standard?

I liked the Franklin apple ][ clone I had. It was made better than anything from apple, and had superior documentation. With full schematics, it was very fixable too.

I only remember Franklin very vaguely. I assume they were sued out of existence?

No, but i would ask if any brand use TO-222 transistors.

2170 is not enough differences from two other sizes: 2665 or 3265. 4680 is a step in the right direction, but i like to see 4690 or 4699. I hope auto makers can eventually come to the same standard size, but probably not possible without government involvement. Perhaps the gov. should give tax credit for certain battery size.

Yes, stupidio. Cells could just as easily be made in a rectangular form. Furthermore, with connectors placed and shaped for easy and reliable drop-in connection. And in relatively large sizes to minimize quantities needed. For instance, car battery size - a relative STANDARD, not too heavy to carry for replacement purposes.

Why not STANDARDIZE charging connectors, charging stations, and possibly charging voltages via STANDARD EV voltages?

OOPS! Asking too much.

"This video is not available in your location."

Someone should inform NBC that PR is U.S. territory.

But, anyway, Highlights:

powered by 9648 AA disposable batteries. autodump of used batteries. no instruction on re-installing batteries.

At some point the cells can't be made longer. The way they are packed into a car like a Tesla they stand upright and their length subtracts from the vertical space in the passenger compartment. The 18650 was used in the earlier Tesla models and the newer ones use the 2170 size, not a big increase in height. But move to a 100 mm tall cell and you are subtracting over an inch from the passenger compartment or making the car taller, pick one.

The location under the passenger compartment is pretty much ideal. It minimizes the polar moment of inertia and lowers the center of gravity, both important for handling. So the height of the battery pack must be limited to prevent compromises in the passenger compartment or the height of the vehicle.

There is very little incentive or even advantage to standardize cell sizes. If there was much incentive to standardize parts on cars they would have done so many years ago. Everyone designs and makes their own starters, alternators, engines, axles, wheels, etc. The only parts that are "standardized" are the consumables, wiper blades, lead acid batteries, tires. The batteries in EVs will be going through a tremendous evolution over the next ten years so that standardizing cell sizes or shapes would be counter productive.

Yes, the most successful automobile company in 100 years has no understanding of batteries for EVs. Way to go! You nailed that one!!!

EV charging voltages and connectors were standardized. Then other companies got together to create a few more standards that were not compatible with Tesla. Now Chademo is dying in the US and I don't think it ever got traction in the EU. Then we'll be down to two. Any car can charge from any charger with an adapter, so it''s not really that big a deal. Tesla is working on deals with other EV makers to share the Supercharger network, so I think the winner is clear at this point.

On Saturday, 2 October 2021 at 17:43:58 UTC-7, Robert Baer wrote: ...

... All those things are standardized. You can plug a Tesla into the same charger as a Chevy Bolt or a Nissan Leaf, BMW, Kia, Jaguar, Porsche, Audi, VW etc.

Fast charging is standardized as well - because there wasn't a standard when Tesla needed it they had to do their own but once the standard had settled down Tesla adopted it. In europe a Tesla can plug into the same fast charger as the others.

kw

On Friday, 1 October 2021 at 11:04:50 UTC-7, Cydrome Leader wrote: ..

Tesla is the only manufacturer that uses the small cells, all the others use larger prismatic cells.

The original reason Tesla used the small ones is that they were standard and available without development. Since they found they worked well they stuck with the same basic arrangement but a bit larger even when they started their own development.

There is some advantage to them as well - they are better for cooling the cell and there is a need for the cell container to withstand pressure. The steel cylindrical cell does that well.

Tesla doesn't waste the space between cells either as it is used for the cooling system.

kw

Early death of ChaDeMo is greatly exaggerate. CalTran added 37 chargers with ChaDeMo this year and probably more next few years. Every other charging company includes it, except for Electrify America. Anyway, including the connector is peanut when compared with the rest of the cost.

Tesla deals with opening it's charging network for more than 10 years. At this point, it's non-issue, there are 10x more FREE FAST chargers than Tesla's.

On Saturday, 2 October 2021 at 18:52:21 UTC-7, Ed Lee wrote: ...

Nissan announced that they are changing to CCS. So Chademo is on the way out. It may take a few years but they are numbered.

I'm highly skeptical that there are more than 160,000 free fast chargers in the US. Tesla has ~16,000 Superchargers.

Plugshare could only find a few hundred..

kw

I should qualify it as along major routes: I-5, I-15, CA-58 and CA-99 in California. I know at least 50 FREE FAST chargers.

On Saturday, 2 October 2021 at 19:19:30 UTC-7, Ed Lee wrote: ...

.

Tesla has something like 300 Supercharger stations just on I5 between the bay area and LA. So your claim of ten times as many free fast chargers seems highly unlikely.

kw

Umm...

866 free charging stations on the map (with the "free" filter applied). When I zoom out to all of the USA and clear all filters, the map shows only 473 charging locations. Obviously, either I'm doing something wrong, or Plugshare web site can't count and is broken. My guess(tm) is that it's only counting stations that are visible on the map, which changes as I zoom in and out.

Got another free EV charging station site handy?

OK, there are more ChaDeMod charging sites than Tesla supercharger sites. I don't usually look at SC site, but there are less than 20 sites on my routes between SF, LA and LV. They are usually clustered in urban areas, and in every case, there are alternatives.