Tesla GigaFactory Launch & Visit

Tesla launched its 1st GigaFactory a month ago



Elon Musk & JB Straubel at the opening party



Some lucky few could visit the factory and this video shows their experience ... Pretty interesting !





18650 & 21700 (called 2170) cell formats will be made at a rate of 75 cells/minute, which is pretty fast, and feed the Model S, Model X, PowerWalls & PowerPacks, and of course the upcoming Model 3

Take the tour ...




Powerwall & Powerpack Assembly Lines

Battery cells tray Pod

New Project : Re-use 18650 Lithium-ion Cells from Discarded Laptop Battery packs

Early 2015, I started a new project: Re-use cells from discarded laptop battery packs

I got a lot of them from the battery trash at work and some on eBay after looking at Jehu Garcia's work to try build cheap battery packs, first to replace the aging NiMH one in my Electric Go Motorboard 2000X, and maybe for another Energy Storage System at Home ....  A 3rd one, yes ;)





I am very excited about this new cell format and discovering how to work with it along the way;
Also you probably know that this is the cell Tesla uses to build its Roadster and Model S packs, with 7,000 Panasonic cells in a Model S ....

Opening the laptop battery case is more or less difficult, and I have to be carefull no to short circuit anything during the process; Inside the cells are mostly made by Panasonic and Samsung SDI, with various external insulation colors (different generations of cells probably)


Every pack has 3, 6 or 9 cells, in 1P, 2P, or 3P and always 3S configuration to have a common 3 x 3.7V = 11.1V nominal





This 18650 cell is to be charged at 4.2V maximum using a ususal Constant Current & Contant Voltage Charger

Guess what's inside ? an "over-engineered" - Jack Rickard's language - PCB / BMS with leads to every group of cells in parallel, and as usual I don't think it is very usefull - apart from the thermal sensor(s) - and in many cases it damaged cells trying to bablance them on top while charging ... the same old story => there are going to trash / recycle because I won't need these at all
An example this morning: out of 6 cells, 2P 3S, a set of 2P is at 0.05V and all the rest is at 3.7V .... where does this come from ? (answer the BMS, which in this case can be called a Battery Murdering System !)


As usual, I am using my good old Low Cost Bottom Balancer, used on all my others battery chemistry projects: Mottcell 39Ah, CALB CA180FI, LEAF Battery Modules, and now 18650; The 2 first the bottom balance voltage was set to 2.75V, and the 2 last to 3.0V (but could be 2.75V too as Jack Rickard did bottom balance his LEAF Modules from the Renault Fluenze Better Place to 2.75V per half module)



Like Jehu, I find out that some cells are close to 0V, some around 4V, and all over the place in between of course ...
When the cell is showing a lower voltage than 3.0V, I charge it to go beyond this value and then proceed to the bottom balancing phase, and all cells are then stored at 3.0V in a box, filling up slowly


Most of the cells originally had between 2 to 2.4Ah of capacity, but they are used, so the real / remaining capacity is the question here ...

I started charging using a eSmoke charger - charges to 4.2V - but it is way to slow for me,



so I siwtched a to 12V lead-acid 2.7A battery charger (Mascott from Norway, a pretty good charger BTW)


To see the current drawned and pushed in the 18650 cells, I wired an analog Ampmeter, and I am discharging at 4A, which is 2C, and charging at 2A, which is 1C



With this setup, I can quickly see in few seconds if a cell has a lot or not so much, or not any more capacity left, as it will show "resistance" on the charging and/or discharging side

A little bit is done at night when I am back home, a liitle bit in the morning before leaving to work, and most of it during the week end; It is taking time but I like it - picture taken yesterday -



Stay tuned for more in Episode 2 ....

Nissan Expected To Exit Lithium-Ion Battery Business - Will Likely Turn to LG Chem For Future Supply

Officially, the position right now for Nissan is no comment, but Renault-Nissan inside sources have told Reuters that Nissan will likely exit the business of battery making in the U.S. and UK as soon as next month.

Per Reuters (via Automotive News)




"Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn is preparing to cut battery manufacturing, people familiar with the matter said, in a new reversal on electric cars that has reopened deep divisions with alliance partner Renault."

"The plan, which faces stiff resistance within the Japanese carmaker, would see U.S. and British production phased out and a reduced output of next-generation batteries concentrated at its domestic plant, two alliance sources told Reuters."

It's further believed that Nissan would then follow Renault in securing batteries from South Korea's LG Chem (widely considered the world leader in lithium-ion automotive batteries).

Reuters quotes an executive on condition of anonymity as stating:

"We set out to be a leader in battery manufacturing but it turned out to be less competitive than we'd wanted. We're still between six months and a year behind LG in price-performance terms."


Largest Lithium-Ion Automotive Battery Plant In The U.S Belongs To Nissan And It's Located In Tennessee

One of the other insiders is quoting as stating:

"Renault would clearly prefer to go further down the LG sourcing route, and the Nissan engineers would obviously prefer to stay in-house. The write-off costs are potentially huge."



The final decision on this matter is expected next month and will be made public at that time.

For now, Nissan spokeswoman Rachel Konrad offers these statements:

"[Renault-Nissan] remains 100 percent committed to its industry-leading electric vehicle program."

"We have not taken any decision whatsoever to modify battery sourcing allocation."
["the alliance] does not confirm or deny procurement reviews."

Reuters adds that the inside sources claim Nissan is negotiating a deal right now with batter partner NEC Corp. The deal would be some sort of dual source effort in which both NEC and LG Chem would supply Renault-Nissan batteries. Reportedly, LG Chem could set up shop within either the U.S. or UK Nissan sites to produces batteries at one of the two locations.

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made this comments last week:
"We're in the process of opening up battery sourcing to a range of suppliers."

Ghosn admitted that "within the framework of alliance procurement" Renault-Nissan will likely outsource some battery contracts in the future. He added:
"What's important to us is that electric car performance fully meets customer expectations."

Of note: both the Renault Twizy and Renault ZOE feature LG Chem battery packs. Renault's tie with LG Chem dates back several years and recently Renault signed a joint agreement with LG Chem on next-generation batteries.



Source: Inside EVs & Automotive News

AESC LEAF Battery Modules - Making a Charge Controller 2

As soon as I got back from Marseille, I dove into my LEAF / AESC Battery Modules Charge Controller project and started wiring the 2 Tyco Kilovac Contactors to the Dual Relay Programmable Voltmeter already installed 10 days ago ....



Crimping first


I start with a ON OFF ON switch to Charge or Discharge, or OFF




Let's add a fuse, always better, and solder its holder here


and get through the terminal numbers in the back for the relays


soldered fuse holder receives a 2A glass fuse


Everything wired to the Voltmeter now


Discharge / Grid Tie Inverter side Kilovac in place


GTI is active and pushing 250W into our home grid


Lower limit reached, the voltmeter opens its lower relay, which removes power to the Kilovac, which opens the DC line removing power to the Grid Tie Inverter, and the Discharge is stopped


Lower voltmeter LED is lit, indicating we reached the lower limit of the pack voltage


And now I have Automatic Cut Off at low voltage, 3.60V per half module or 21.6V for the pack of 3 modules (= 6 half modules)



After testing this, the next day, I wired the Charger side Kilovac, protection over charge, and stopping at 24.9V for the pack, which is 4.15V per half module



Charger side Tyco Kilovac with 1.5mm2, smaller section solid core wire



Let's start the charge now ...



I just finished this first controlled Charge tonight:



Once we reach the set 24.9V for this 3 module pack (= 6 half modules x 4.15V), the voltmeter opens its upper limit relay, cutting power to the Tyco Kilovac contactor, opening the charge lead and stopping the charge => Simple and Efficient !

Note the upper limit LED on the Voltmeter and the Green right LED on the Charger (a LiFePO4 24V 10A) showing the end of Charge; Now after 10s, the voltage has gone down a bit and will stay there


So now I don't have to stay next to my AESC / LEAF pack, since a Charge and a Discharge will be terminated automatically thanks to this set up :-)