and volume is what i was getting at. DPV companies are ordering lithium batteries from battery manufacturers at a super low volume specifically for DPV needs.( thats how it looks to me, i could be wrong ) Why not take Panasonic/ Tesla 18650 battery which would be produced in very very very large volume at a cheap price and then implement Technology in a DPV? I think the DPV Community can benefit from this.
I cannot find anything on tesla's subsidies
also what is the current lithium battery that DPV manufactures using? i.e. what is in the battery pack that deep-sea supply makes for the fury?
I love my DSS backplate :cool3:
corey
I'll try again.
We use *18650's* A fury pack has 120 18650's in it. A DSS Fury pack is a lot more than a pile of cells soldered together
...
These packs require multiple pieces of plastic to be waterjet cut and CNC machined. The top bulkhead alone requires 3 different machining setups on two different CNC machines, 1 3 axis mill and 1 large CNC lathe.
+
An aluminum heat sink to be waterjet cut and CNC machined
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13 separate pieces of .005 pure nickel sheet to be water jet cut, flattened and polished
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A battery cutoff board capable of ~50+ amps to produced and assembled and tested
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A "Skirt" that is die cut and then RF welded on a custom fixture
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4 Mylar insulators that are die cut
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The cells have to be preassembled in special fixtures *before* they are ready for Spot welding to the nickel sheet
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These cell groups have to be assembled into *another* special fixture for final welding
Etc. etc. etc.
Each of these steps requires set up, tooling, skilled operators and QC.
If we were making thousands some or most of these steps could be automated, or different technology could be used. For example injection molding for the battery bulkheads instead of machining. Of course the necessary molds would cost $50,000~$100,000. This is something Tesla can do, but we cannot for the DPV market. This only one example, there are many others. The nickel sheet could be stamped, but only if you pay for the *13* special stamping dies required. Stamping is faster and far cheaper than waterjet cutting, but only if you can amortize the cost of the 13 special, precision stamping dies
...
The cells are a significant part of the final cost, but the engineering, (tooling, dies, programming, fixtures etc.) and actual manufacturing of the current packs is huge cost too.
The good news is large scale users of Li-Ion cells help to drive development of better cells and we all eventually enjoy these advancements.
Tobin