Electrek got the first photo of Tesla’s new structural battery pack with a honeycomb architecture that will power its future electric vehicles.
Tesla structural battery pack
During its Battery Day event last year, Tesla unveiled not only its new 4680 battery cell, but also a new battery architecture built around the new cell.
Inspired by the innovation in aerospace to build aircraft wings as fuel tanks instead of building the fuel tanks inside the wings, Tesla decided to build a battery pack that serves as a body structure, connecting the front and rear parts.
Tesla is currently building batteries by combining cells into modules, which are assembled as a battery. The battery is installed in the vehicle platform.
The difference with this new concept is that Tesla does not use modules, but builds the entire battery pack as the structural platform of the vehicle, and that the battery cells help solidify the platform as one large unit.
Using its expertise in giant castings, Tesla can connect a large one-piece chassis and front chassis to this structural battery pack.
This new design reduces the number of parts, the total mass of the battery, and thus enables Tesla to improve the efficiency and ultimately the range of electric vehicles.
The structural battery pack is expected to be used for the first time in the Model Y to be built at Gigafactory Berlin and in the new Model S Plaid.
The move is seen as risky in the industry, as most electric car manufacturers are trying to protect the battery, while Tesla plans to use it as an integral structural part of its electric vehicles.
First photo of the Tesla structure battery pack with honeycomb design
Electrek got the first picture of one of the very first structural battery packs Tesla has ever manufactured.
The photo shows the battery pack without the new 4680 cells in it – with the gingerbread design of the pack:
Without the cells, we can better appreciate the structural aspects of the honeycomb structure, which is known for its strength but also lightweight.
It has already been used in aviation and the automotive industry – though not for the same use as Tesla.
The BMW i3 uses a hexagonal honeycomb structure for collision with the vehicle’s battery.
In the photo of Tesla’s new battery pack, we can also see that Tesla has built the coolant loops on the sides around the pack:
To complete the battery, Tesla dropped the 4680 battery cells into the holes and tied them to the suit to contribute to the structural integrity and power of the electric vehicles.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented on the cells’ contribution to the structure:
Battery pack will be a bonded structure with cells that provide shear transfer between the upper and lower levels of the steel, eliminating most of the middle body parts, while providing better torsional rigidity and a better polar moment or inertia. This is a big breakthrough.
Some have pointed out that while the benefits of this design become clear, it also complicates repairs in the event of an accident.
However, Musk claims that Tesla has designed collision-absorbing rails that can be cut off and repaired to preserve the packages.
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