Battery pack upgrade

[craig-merrow]

It’s been said that we’re in the Model T stage of EVs; will be interesting to see how advances in batteries will play out over the next few years.

[raymond-nettleton]

It may be a moot point, but in theory if the voltage of each module is the same as the base module and they were the same amp hours you should be able to add them in parallel. The cars drive unit wouldn’t know the different. The range computer and charging would be messed up but…… The BMS could be made to compensate for minor variations between old and new.

Many things would need to happen in order for this to be possible.

1.) The suspension would need to be adjustable to the various battery weights.

2.) The battery cavity would need to accept modules. The Aptera Website is misleading as it simply shows stacking modules. This is were many people are mislead.

3.) The BMS would need to be very flexible and configurable.

As others have said it is easier to just change your order. It will be interesting to see if you might be able to swap an entire battery pack say from a 600 to a 400 range unit if the 600 mile unit is severely damaged but the battery is OK however there is speculation that the 600 unit might actually use different form factor which might change the mounting and or total space requirement. There might be some economic incentive to do that. It is logical to me that the total battery cavity space will be the same between the different models with shims or storage to be added and deleted.

[BigSky]

I don’t think so. My understanding is that the battery technology will be different for the 600 and 1,000 mile variants (larger batteries). If you think you may want more capacity, then do it at purchase.

[eric_k]

Given the recent battery partnership announcement, and the video’s showing the battery bank technology, do we expect any change in the battery upgrade policy? I downgraded my desired configuration to get a launch edition, but I would prefer to have a 1000 mile pack instead of a 400 mile pack. The fees and taxes for replacing an entire vehicle are higher than upgrading the vehicle, I would think.

[Kamakiri]

The battery partnership has little to do with the difficulty and challenges and parts required for upgrading the battery pack. The actual cost to do so would likely exceed the cost of selling a used 400 mile LE and buying a new 1,000 mile version once they’re available.

[mathew-vaughn]

With the latest info. the only difference in the packs will be the thickness. 70mm tall batteries for 25 and 40kW, 90mm tall for 60kW and 120mm for 100kW 1000 mile version. So. in theory you could swap in a new higher capacity pack with the correct bracketry.

Here’s the rub… even with Aptera claiming that they are at the cutting edge of battery pack efficiency, the pack is HEAVY. Even if they beat Tesla Model 3 battery pack efficiency, the 41kWh pack will still weigh around 235kg. of which 178kg is just the bare cells themselves. And if you are installing the 60kWh pack expect that to pack weigh 285kg or more. Now you are moving around some serious weight. Not something you are going to do in your driveway with a couple jack stands and a floor jack.

I think the upgrade path is: sell current Aptera -> buy new Aptera with larger pack.