ultrasound device improves lithium batteries

[electruck]

This is an interesting mechanical approach to minimizing dendrite formation.

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-ultrasound-device-lithium-batteries.html

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[skyote]

Both battery & charging R&D/breakthroughs will lead to a much different EV landscape in 5 years or so.

Makes me consider for a second to wait...but no, I'm getting a Rivian ASAP.

 

[Coast2Coast]

You raise a very interesting issue with respect to replacing battery packs in Rivians a few years down the road. I asked about this online after the Mill Valley event in California and received an answer saying older batteries would be repurposed but nothing about replacing older packs with new ones.

Hopefully, as newer generation battery packs become available, it will be relatively painless to upgrade to the latest and greatest.

 

[skyote]

I believe I read that they are not planning to provide a battery replacement.

Chances are that autonomous driving & other tech will be outdated in a similar timeframe to the battery, but I too hope that pack replacement is an option, solely to increase range.

 

[ajdelange]

Remember computers, cell phones and digital cameras? These cars are high tech and as such this year's model is going to be substantially better than last year's. Eventually, as with all three of the devices named above things will level out somewhat but for now you are going to have to be strong. I say "you" rather than "we" because I just caved in for a 19% range increase in my X100D.

 

[Coast2Coast]

However, OTA upgrades of firmware and software will allow for marginal improvements in performance while battery packs could be replaced as long as battery form factors remained consistent. Presumably, even a solid state battery might possibly be fitted into battery modules. So earlier generation vehicles can be regularly upgraded in terms of performance though it's unlikely that they will ever catch up with the latest new generation vehicles.

I suspect Rivian is considering all of these scenarios and we won't begin to hear about them until we get much closer to production at the end of the year. Given how long I'd have to wait if I gave up my relatively early reservation slot, 11/30/2018, I'll go with OTA upgrades over waiting for a second generation model. To ajdelange: does caving in for a 19% range increase in a X100D mean that you're giving up your Rivian reservation?

And that raises another issue which I haven't seen discussed. Is there a secondary market in reservations? I suspect there is even if it isn't being discussed.

 

[ajdelange]

To ajdelange: does caving in for a 19% range increase in a X100D mean that you're giving up your Rivian reservation?

Of course not! The R1T is 14% more than the Raven X!

After writing that I feel I should explain that this is bucket list behaviour in an old fart and not something I recommend to younger people planning for their children's futures and their own retirements.

 

[Coast2Coast]

An R1T is not quite a bucket list item in my case. I'd much prefer to have one fairly sustainable, highly reliable and fun-to-drive vehicle than the three I currently own. The R1T is a nearly perfect fit for my needs. The only niggle in the back of my brain is: do two RAV4 Primes equal one R1T? The answer, I think, depends on the accessories and options that come with the R1T and we won't know that for another six months or so. RAV4 Primes won't be available for another six months, and so there's no need to worry about the choice now.

But, again, that raises the question of a secondary market for reservation slots. I suspect this is an issue worthy of a separate thread.

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