Replies to post #217449 on Liquidmetal Technologies Inc (LQMT)

[thoand]

I think he is referring how the battery is made not necessarily the casing.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thedriven.io/2020/06/09/tesla-battery-partner-catl-says-it-can-now-make-million-mile-plus-battery/amp/

[Nerd Beautiful]

Answering the question about Tesla and their new 4860 battery pack:

In the interview linked below Musk explains that current teslas carry the battery pack like a cart. That is, the batteries are hauled by the car as part of the load. Their weight means that extra structural support must be added to the vehicle to support this weight.

His proposition with the 4860 batteries is to have them become a structural load-bearing part of the vehicle. This means that instead of being carried as a load, the battery pack would actually carry itself and also help carry the rest of the weight of the vehicle and its passengers. Therefore the rest of the vehicle's structural supports could be lessened from not having to carry the battery, and lessened because the battery is not only carrying itself but helping to carry the weight of the vehicle.

All of this would help to make the vehicle lighter and more rigid, causing it to be faster, more energy efficient, and a better quality driving experience. He's also incorporating novel design elements into the battery chemistry and construction to further contribute to vehicle speed, efficiency, and quality driving experience.

In the video he mentions the battery packs would be a honeycomb design, which would be excellent for structural rigidity.

In 2017, Li was awarded the "Excellence Award for Automotive Cast Product Design" for his use of Magnesium. Link below. Here's a quote from that article. Note the mention of "structural" —

"The Excellence Award is being presented to Professor Li in recognition of a new automotive cast design for structural portions of automotive closure panels (i.e., side doors, lift gates, hoods, trunk lids) where his unique, novel, and creative design and development of magnesium demonstrated significant advances over current practice."

Putting it all together, the idea is that Li has been working with Tesla (recall Tesla has used LM door locks for years), to help develop this structural battery design. In fact, it's possible that Musk got the idea from Li himself, who may have presented the concept years ago and been working towards realizing the concept throughout that time.

Finally, LM's work with Magnesium doesn't have the same downsides as Liquidmetal. The parts can be made large. They're not impossibly expensive. The structural component would be the outer metal casing of the battery. Somehow (we should know soon) these battery cases would interlock to create an extremely strong rigid member.

We don't know for sure that Tesla will be using Magnesium. But in the interview Musk mentions this as a hard challenge, on par with a bet-the-company level effort. Rumors are that in June they got the whole process figured out, but that they are having to do many iterations and tweaks in the manufacturing process to get everything to work just right.

Some think the manufacturing alterations that are happening are deal breakers and that it's possible this still won't pan out -- that the problem will prove just too difficult. Others are saying that if Tesla is 80% there, the last 20% should be doable, especially by someone with such drive as Musk.

In any case, we should know soon. Perhaps as soon as October 7, 2021 (annual shareholder meeting - that's when they first unveiled the idea of the 4860 battery). Maybe as late as October 21, 2021 (this date was recently floated, but I don't recall why.)

Fingers crossed, as this would be super huge for us. Indeed, it alone could propel us to the NASDAQ. Recall that Tesla plans to use the 4860 battery in its CyberTruck, Semi, and Model Y. It would be a magnificently humungous order. It's also essential that they get it right, as the 4860's structural capacity will be built into these vehicle's designs to help carry vehicle load. If it doesn't pan out, those vehicles will need to be entirely redesigned. Thus, it will pan out. But will it be our Magnesium that makes it so?

VIDEO:

Li and Magnesium: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170512005134/en/Chairman-Li-Receives-Excellence-Award-for-2017-Automotive-Cast-Product-Design

[Garyedward71]

Due to the volatile nature of the lithium ion battery, the cell modules must be encased in a fire proof steel shell. This adds considerable weight to the lithium ion battery pack.