Tesla Model 3 Crash Hurls Battery Cells Into Nearby Home

According to a facebook post from the police department of Corvallis, Oregon, a Tesla Model 3 crashed at over 100mph, causing batteries from the Tesla to enter two different residences by breaking through the windows, one landing on a person’s lap and the second landing on a bed, catching the bedding on fire. “A tire was ripped from the car during…

Musk Promises Tesla Design Overhaul, ‘Ravecave’ At Berlin Plant

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will use its plant in Brandenburg, Germany to demonstrate a radical overhaul of how its cars are built, as well as making electric car battery cells and battery packs. Musk also said he has plans for a “ravecave” on the roof of the new factory, which would make it a “real fun place to…

Panasonic Is Ending Its Solar Cell Partnership With Tesla

Panasonic said it will stop producing solar cells and modules at Tesla’s factory in Buffalo, N.Y., ending a four-year joint venture with the electric automaker. TechCrunch reports: Panasonic said it will cease solar manufacturing operations at the Tesla factory by the end of May. The company will exit the factory by September. Panasonic employs about 380 people at the factory. Those…

Tesla Patents New Chemistry For Better, Longer-Lasting and Cheaper Batteries

Tesla is closing the year by filing a patent on a new chemistry for better, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries. The new patent is related to the new battery cell that Tesla’s battery research partner, Jeff Dahn, and his team at Dalhousie University unveiled earlier this year. The new cell “should be able to power an electric vehicle for over [1 million…

Don’t miss these cyclones on Jupiter, and more

The Juno spacecraft’s last perijove – or closest point to Jupiter – resulted in a treasure trove of images. Its next perijove is coming up on December 26. Get updated here, and view Juno’s latest amazing images. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jupiter-juno-cyclones-images-dec-2019…

Solid State Battery Breakthrough Could Double the Density of Lithium-ion Cells

Researchers at Australia’s Deakin University say they’ve managed to use common industrial polymers to create solid electrolytes, opening the door to double-density solid state lithium batteries that won’t explode or catch fire if they overheat. Tangential writes: Dr. Fangfang Chen and Dr. Xiaoen Wang from Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials claim to have made a breakthrough with “the first clear and…

Tesla Battery Researcher Unveils New Cell That Could Last 1 Million Miles

Long-time Slashdot reader ClarkMills writes: Not just anybody but [lithium-ion battery pioneer] Jeff Dahn [et al.] released a paper detailing
cells that “should be able to power an electric vehicle for over 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) and last at least two decades in grid energy storage.” The new lithium-ion battery cell has a next-generation “single crystal” NMC cathode and a…