SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 15 submissions in the queue.
SoylentNews
https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-deux
So, in short, Master Plan, Part Deux is:
Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments
Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
Enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using it
Previously: Elon Musk's "Top Secret Tesla Masterplan, Part 2"
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Elon Musk Releases Master Plan, Part Deux
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 23 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
* m2 stares at the monitor... it looks like a hamburger...
m2 - that's a bad sign
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday July 22 2016, @02:41PM
I really want 220V to be the new power take off. If you have a hybrid electric vehicle, I want to be able to use it as a generator while stationary. A Jeep that can power a welder would be quite handy.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday July 22 2016, @03:15PM
That's a really interesting idea. If you had roof solar panels that unfold a la Mars Rover you could turn your Jeep into a mobile mini-fab.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Friday July 22 2016, @06:26PM
Gull-wing doors + solar panels = WINNING!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:33PM
Do you know something I don't know? Do you know what the required surface area would be for photovoltaic cells to power a welder would be? A small welder needs around 2kw and that is for plate steel on the order of 1/2" to 3/8" - sheet metal can get away with a lot less but is very limiting. One saving element here might be duty cycle - in 10% duty cycle the welder runs for 1 minute out of 10 minutes; this would give the batteries a chance to charge during the down time.
And yes I am a trained welder. I've got hundreds of hours of lab under my belt and qualified to weld structural steel up to 1/2" thick in all positions, including overhead.
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:38PM
Half inch plate takes a fuck ton of power and a lot of passes.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Saturday July 23 2016, @04:52AM
About 300W per square meter at 30% efficiency (full sun). So, we at talking 4m2 per kW, or 8m2 for 2 kW.
In imperial, that would be about 6ftx12ft.
Psuedoedit: Checked Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], and those numbers are within an order of magnitude.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Saturday July 23 2016, @04:58AM
That's what a get for failing to show my work: I meant 100W/m2. implying 20m2 for 2kW.
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:28PM
That is an interesting idea though one of the benefits of pure mechanical PTO is the lack of an electricity to motion conversion step. Being able to weld in the field using power from the truck and actually having it run a decent welding power supply would be very nice but probably not so good for a farmer trying to run equipment off their tractor.
I also wonder if the existing AC power inverters used for propulsion could be reprogrammed to deliver the correct current for an off the shelf welder. Seems possible but perhaps niche. But at least the welder and the electric propulsion system are probably around the same level of power requirements though the welder duty cycle (if it is very good) might exceed the expected duty cycle of the vehicle.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Saturday July 23 2016, @03:56AM
This did cross my mind, the need for another motor would increase cost and decrease efficiency. However I think using a cord instead of a mechanical linkage would be a huge convience, and assuming this can emulate the mains 240V opens the door to so much COTS equipment.
I suspect the power would be more than sufficient. The Chevy Volt has a ~70HP engine for its generator, which is larger than any contractor generator I can find on Northern Tool (~20HP seems to be as big as contractor generators go).
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Saturday July 23 2016, @11:48AM
However I think using a cord instead of a mechanical linkage would be a huge convience
Right there with you on that one actually! The vehicles will have much better inverters than I'll get my hands on to install in my truck.
The Chevy Volt has a ~70HP engine for its generator, which is larger than any contractor generator I can find on Northern Tool
And this is really the important part; I think we'll have to rely on hybrid gas/electric powertrains for this kind of utility, at least for now. The alternative (per another part of this thread) is around 200 square feet of solar panels to achieve a nominal 2kw or ~2.5 HP while the Volt is cranking out around about 35kw assuming the inverter is highly efficient (probably is).