carbon fiber has allowed the team to design a structural battery that checks all the boxes possessing competitive energy storage and structural integrity so how does a structural battery work it begins with a positive electrode made of lithium phosphate coated aluminum foil the negative electrode is made out of carbon fiber which serves as a host for the lithium storing energy while also providing strength and rigidity because carbon fiber is a great electrical conductor it helps reduce the weight even further by eliminating the need for additional copper or silver to act as a conductor a fiberglass fabric in a matrix electrolyte developed by kth row institute of technology separates the electrodes this electrolyte helps transport lithium ions between the two electrodes while also helping transfer mechanical loads between carbon fibers and other parts of the vehicle now let's talk efficiency right now the battery has an energy density of around NUMBER_TOKEN watt hours per kilogram which is NUMBER_TOKEN times better than previous versions but to put that in perspective the NUMBER_TOKEN cells in the tesla model NUMBER_TOKEN and y have batteries with NUMBER_TOKEN watt hours per kilogram and tesla claims their future NUMBER_TOKEN cells will come in at NUMBER_TOKEN so at first glance it doesn't seem like the structure of battery packs stack up very well against competition does it but this is where it's time to think like an engineer while the batteries may not have the same energy density as some of its more dedicated cousins remember they don't have to besides storing energy these components also double as structure so any energy storage benefit is really just a bonus one that could reduce the weight of dedicated batteries required the epa even estimates that replacing cast iron and traditional steel components with lightweight materials could reduce the weight of a vehicle's body and chassis by about NUMBER_TOKEN now integrating a battery into the vehicle structure alone won't make a difference quite on that scale at least not right away but by proving the viability of such a design we're moving closer and closer to that reality at battery day in NUMBER_TOKEN tesla not only revealed their new NUMBER_TOKEN battery cells but a new architecture that will integrate the cell into the future vehicle design think of tesla's battery as structural battery light the battery isn't built into the vehicle's entire structure instead it's able to reduce exterior packaging making the dedicated battery area stiffer and lighter this innovative feature promises to reduce the number of parts needed to construct these designs while also being able to bring down the total mass of the battery pack tesla projects that this design can bring vehicle weight down by roughly NUMBER_TOKEN percent and could increase battery range by roughly NUMBER_TOKEN when it comes to vehicle structure one element tends to make the highest priority and that's safety in the event of an accident how safe will my battery be and more importantly how safe will i be it turns out the carbon fiber structural batteries may be as safe or even safer than most of the cars on the road today the structures measure a stiffness of NUMBER_TOKEN gigapascals and a tensile strength exceeding NUMBER_TOKEN megapascals meaning the structure is comparable to other commonly used construction materials tesla's battery pack also utilizes a hexagonal honeycomb design similar to designs used in aerospace and other vehicles the bmw iNUMBER_TOKEN uses a similar design structure for crash absorption around the vehicle's battery pack so are we going to start seeing evs outfitted with zero mass structural batteries in the near future tesla is expected to use their new battery format in cyber trucks which could be a major win for the future of heavy-duty evs
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