Tesla Battery Announcement April 30th

[rainyjim]

They just acquired a huge share in the lithium market.

I'm guessing it's a lithium-ion battery.

See this past article...

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/e...-1.2112964

[RJHampton]

Check this one out rainyjim it tells us kind of how they will be made. So cool these guys are in to driving the price of their cars down. Competition the people win! http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084...t-may-cost []

[leilanidude]

"Ormat will provide 100% of the power for the gigafactory lithium battery factory..."

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RJ!!! Please stop spreading rumors!

Ormat is not providing 100% of the power for the new plant! Tesla's plans are for the entire plant to be powered by renewable energy sources and the rooftop of the plant will be covered in solar panels. Tesla wants to be the provider, not purchase power from someone else!

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/09/10/tesl...ity-needs/

snippet from article:

"...goes on to say that if 850,000 square-meters were covered in efficient solar panels (from, say, Solar City?), that alone would generate about 850 MWh of energy per day, about #8531; of what’s needed. The official Gigafactory picture also included about 85 windmills on the hills in the background, and despite the Reno area not been particularly friendly to wind farms, a setup of similar size would generate about 1,836 MWh of energy, which puts the Gigafactory well past its 2,400 MWh needs. Musk also said geothermal energy could play a role, and a small 10 Mw facility could produce 240 MWh of usable energy each day..."

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If geothermal energy is used at the new plant, Ormat may bid on the equipment and install it, since that is a major part of Ormat's business.

[Malapuaao]

>>Well-cared for lead-acid can last 10 years; assume L16HC:

Well I've done my best to maintain a bank of 8 L16's for last four years on two week maintenance schedule (using 3 gal of distilled water per month) but they are now almost shot. Last bank of 8 lasted four years also.

Zero maintenance and longevity are key factors in getting away from lead acid.

aloha

[leilanidude]

quote:

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Originally posted by Malapuaao

>>Well-cared for lead-acid can last 10 years; assume L16HC:

Well I've done my best to maintain a bank of 8 L16's for last four years on two week maintenance schedule (using 3 gal of distilled water per month) but they are now almost shot. Last bank of 8 lasted four years also.

Zero maintenance and longevity are key factors in getting away from lead acid.

aloha

---

Drain them and re-fill with sulfuric acid, blended out with distilled water to obtain a specific gravity of 1.265 at a 100% charge.

[beejee]

Another link: http://www.computerworld.com/article/291...dence.html

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

While we're waiting for the details about Tesla's new battery, here's another energy breakthrough announcement. Perhaps the process will allow for local production of fuel, even in Hawaii.

Audi, the German car manufacturer has discovered a method to make diesel fuel from carbon dioxide:

The process involves heating water to 800 degrees Celsius, creating steam. Electricity—from a green-energy power source, naturally, biomass in this case—heats the water, and the resulting high-temperature electrolysis breaks it down into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is released, and the hydrogen is combined with CO2 taken from the atmosphere. Under high heat and pressure, the two synthesize to create a liquid known as blue crude. The blue crude is refined into what Audi calls e-diesel.

They estimate that once production is ramped up, the cost to consumers in Europe would be comparable to traditional diesel, at 1.00 to 1.50 euro per liter (approximately $4.00 to $6.00 per gallon).
http://blog.caranddriver.com/powering-yo...-from-h20/

[Justin]

We have a very easy way here to heat water to 800 degrees Celsius...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Back to Tesla...
Elon Musk tweeted yesterday that his battery announcement will reveal "the missing piece"
http://www.cnet.com/news/tesla-reveals-i...day-night/

If the announcement does include two different types of batteries as anticipated, we can expect:

1) A battery for personal use - finally a way to get completely off the grid with reliable, low maintenance batteries

2) A battery for utilities - a way for utilities to expand their use of solar produced power by generating additional solar power during the day, and economically storing it for nighttime use. Hopefully this means HECO & HELCO can increase the number of customers in their net metering program:

“Whatever Tesla announces on Thursday is just the beginning,” said Peter Rosegg, spokesman for Hawaiian Electric Co., where 12 percent of the utility’s customers have rooftop solar panels. “Tesla doesn’t have to go after the market -- the market will come to them. We’re very eager to see what they have to say.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...rs-to-grid

[Kapoho Joe]

meanwhile tsla is like a runaway train. go baby go!