Panasonic received an order for 2 Billion Cells from Tesla, as each Tesla Model “S” uses 7000 cells that can be individually replaced as required (Panasonic 18650 Li-ion Cell)
Q. Why does Model S has so many battery cells? 7000 is not a small number, as BYD has got only 96 cells and Nissan Leaf has got 140 cells. I understand that they use different kind of Li-ion battery, but are there any reason or benefit for that? More stable or what. Because it seems that more cells, the probability of cells go wrong would be greater. If 1 or a few of those 7000 batteries screwed up, can I still drive it?
A. Benefit is much lower price and higher energy density. These are very common 18650 batteries common to all kinds of mobile devices so Tesla has benefit of mass production for those and very large manufacturer to back them up. Also those batteries stacked together nice and tidy creates natural honeycomb structure which is very durable. If one cell fails it gets separated from the rest, so no problem there.
Battery Warranty (Tesla) - An additional warranty covers the battery and varies by capacity. The 60 kWh battery is covered for 8 years or 125,000 miles, whichever comes first. The largest battery, 85 kWh, is covered for eight years and unlimited miles.
New Battery Purchase - A Battery Replacement Option will be available for purchase soon. The option allows you to pre-purchase a new battery to be installed after eight years for a fixed price: $10,000 for 60 kWh batteries and $12,000 for 85 kWh batteries.
Li-ion Battery Manufacturers
Panasonic – Tesla
A123Systems – Chevrolet Spark EV
Boston Power – Beijing Automotive Group, Saab Automobile
E-One Moli Energy – BMW Mini-E
Electrovaya – Tata Motors (future vehicles)
EnerDel – ThinkGlobal (preproduction and prototype)
Johnson Controls – Daimler AG, Ford XL Hybrid (scheduled)
Li-Tec Battery – Daimler AG
NEC – Nisson
Primearth EV Energy – Toyota (future products)
LG Chem – General Motors
GS Yuasa – Mitsubishi (Joint Ventures)
Cheers, Mark
