It's the most energy dense pack in the industry. We do the math to confirm.
First up, some highlights from the text below:
- Exclusive photos via Jack Rickard at EVTV support our theory that the body structure now provides side impact battery protection.
- EVTV weighed the Model 3 modules and Elon is right, this is the most energy dense pack in the industry----but by how much. We do the calculations.
- These modules can’t be taken apart. They are one solid chunk of cells back filled with “sil gel*”. Has the intumescent goo been resurrected?
More Model 3 / EVTV News
“All the technology in the Model 3 is very next generation with nothing familiar from Model S in any way shape or form. I haven’t seen anything even vaguely Model S or Model X in this vehicle. Nothing. No DNA found. The improvement is not at all incremental. It’s like from another planet.”
-Jack Rickard
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Photos and video of the underside of Model 3 showing beefy structure surrounding the pack.
In that article, and based on EVTV’s teardown video we speculated that Tesla has saved weight in the battery pack by moving the battery protection duties from the battery case to the body structure. This was partly conjecture just because there are no protective sides on the Model 3 pack (unlike Model S) and also because Tesla appears to have surrounded the Model 3 pack in high strength steel used in the body……in other words letting the body serve a dual purpose.


The photos of the box beam and additional steel structure that surrounds the Model 3 pack are shown below.


…..and a video clip of the underside of the Model 3
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Weight and Energy density

We took it upon ourselves to calculate the energy density in both wh/kg and lbs/kwh. As Elon said, the cells used in the Model 3 are highest energy density cells used in any electric vehicle. This is the kind of energy density other manufacturers are promising in 2020 time frame and Tesla already has it in production today.

If you wish to look at the detailed calculations, they are shown below.

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The whole module is held together with “sil gel”


Maybe the intumescent goo has been resurrected and is providing additional fire protection above and beyond the structure?
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section.