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At Current Rates, Tesla Could Soon Suck Up Worldwide Supply of Li-Ion Cells
cartechboy writes "Lets just say Elon Musk may need to go battery shopping, like, big-time. Here's some little-understood Tesla math that could turn the global market for cylindrical lithium-ion cells upside down by 2015. It turns out the massive Model S battery takes almost 2,000 times the number of cells a basic laptop does. Assume Tesla just doubles production from its current 21K cars/year to 40K cars/year. (Something it expects to do by 2015). At that point, Tesla would require the *entire* existing global capacity for 18650 commodity cells. That assumes no other growth, no next gen model, nada. What should Elon do? Better get on the horn to Panasonic and Samsung."
I seem to recall some old English dude saying stuff about supply and demand... But sarcasm aside, isn't it about time we had some tangible breakthroughs in battery tech?
weinersmith
Make more?
Crisis solved. I will even waive my customary consulting fee.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
At least they aren't buying up all the HeLa cells. That would be creepy.
Basically, they're on their way to consume the li-on's share of Li-Ion cells. Sounds about right!
Ezekiel 23:20
JESUS CHRIST it's a li-on, GET IN THE CAR!
The li-on is already in the car! It's a trap!
Just wait until the new titanium-graphite (TiGr) and beryllium-argon (BeAr) batteries reach the market.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
How much beryllium? That's one of the more toxic metals out there. It isn't going to sail if there's a lot of high-concentration beryllium involved.
Well, it took me 2 seconds to type my question and get a response. That's 3 seconds I have to not be a smug asshole.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Whoosh!
Tungsten-hydroxy-osmium-hydride? Sounds expensive!