nick-m
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NMC is the current best-in-class for range, but if “good enough” LFP batteries are available, this will have a lot of benefits: no expensive cobalt from war-torn Congo, no nickel from Russia, much reduced chance of fire, longer battery lifetime. LFP is definitely coming. But maybe eventually sodium-ion batteries that do away with the lithium and its skyrocketing price. A lot of hard engineering work still to be done, but these things are on the horizon.
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Rocky Mt. Institute (RMI) was founded by Amory Lovins, the guru’s guru when it comes to energy efficiency (he’s be at it for about 50 years, I think). In his latest article on the RMI site, he called out Aptera as one of the new breed of efficient vehicles — and noted that he’s an advisor to the company! This is really great — as an energy nerd myself, this guy has been one of my idols for decades 😀.
Oh yeah, and it’s a good article about batteries, too.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Nick Michell.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by
Gabriel Kemeny.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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For batteries, I understand that you don’t want to go out on limb, at least initially. So cylindrical cells, probably NCM chemistry, 400v … all standard stuff, and the key thing you’re thinking about is integration. I get it, but the pushevs website has these things to think about for the future:
800-volt systems: more efficient, lighter motors vs. 400v
Silicon anodes: silicon/graphite is here now, but higher % silicon is coming
Cobalt-free batteries: switch from NCM to LFP, you’ll lose some energy density, but gain in safety and cost, simpler management, and no conflict minerals
CTP battery packs: Check out BYD’s blade batteries, works well with LFP chemistry
Solar roofs: Aptera is already there!
V2G and V2L: vehicle-to-whatever is coming
Aerodynamic improvements: Aptera is already there!
Wireless charging: well, someday