Go Elon !


Elon Musk
@elonmusk
You’re welcome

Tesla shares 48V architecture with other automakers to move the industry

They weren't joking. We received the document today, dated Dec. 5th. Thanks, @ElonMusk. Great for the industry! https://t.co/DkLaHA84CY
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) December 7, 2023

John Hayes

I remember 48 volt being kicked around back in the late 80's early 90's. Nothing new, and not Elon's idea. Problem is 48 volt cause problems not seen at lower voltage, and that is why it never made it in production. You need wider air gaps and nominal 48 volt is 56.8 in reality "operating voltage", high enough to pass though the human body.
Yes there are advantages, but there are safety concerns as well. To date, it has been thought the advantages don't outweigh the risks.
Back when I was hearing about it, they were saying all accessories would be electric driven (A/C, P/S, PB) and we have that in electric vehicles and hybrids.
All this was when Elon was still in short pants back in SA.

I remember 48 volt being kicked around back in the late 80's early 90's. Nothing new, and not Elon's idea. Problem is 48 volt cause problems not seen at lower voltage, and that is why it never made it in production. You need wider air gaps and nominal 48 volt is 56.8 in reality "operating voltage", high enough to pass though the human body.
Yes there are advantages, but there are safety concerns as well. To date, it has been thought the advantages don't outweigh the risks.
Back when I was hearing about it, they were saying all accessories would be electric driven (A/C, P/S, PB) and we have that in electric vehicles and hybrids.
All this was when Elon was still in short pants back in SA.

Sorry just thinking this post would help spread the word on Musks intent to share their patents to help promote ideas and not start more bashing of a
good American with good intentions. Your knowledge could help Musk and his engineering teams ( good for you ) be sure to make a difference
and share your thoughts to advance the engineering, that would be cool ! F any of your cre dicks too

Be safe and good holidays, Peace

The reason it never got off the ground, is safety. Once you cross the Rubicon of a voltage platform that can enter the body, then why 48? why not 64 (72 operating) like trains, or 120?
True, we now have cars with much higher voltage, but there are lots of precautions to keep that high voltage away from the passengers.
As an electrician, you should know.
Try and arc weld with one 12 volt battery, almost impossible to strike and arc, 24 volts you can, 48 is much easier. they higher the voltage the more risks.
It comes down to advantages and dis advantages, So far those that detract from the high voltage outweigh those that support it.
Then add to that costs to make fuses, switches and relays among others to meet the design requirements of the higher voltage, all possible but worth it?
Just going from 12 to 24 volt, the solenoid contacts go from copper to silver,
32 and to a lesser extent 36 volt is used on ships where they wanted to keep well below voltage where skin resistance is enough to prevent shock.
Not saying Elon doesn't come up with some good ideas, but he has a lot of failures as well. His 1st good idea was Pay-pal and that was good enough to finance his meteoric rise.
In today's electric cars, the high voltage DC is isolated from the passengers and most of the rest of the car, it has safety disconnects that trigger along with air bags in a crash to limit the damage it can cause. Move to higher voltages out front, not only has backward compatibility problems, (how do you tow a trailer, for instance?) but increases the risk of fire and arc in crashes.
Tesla's "not ready for prime time" self driving is another example of his arrogance it pushing his ideas before they are proven safe and effective. .

Wow corn thats a lot of information maybe you should share it with an engineering team
working on electric cars I did not ask for your explanations but nice
of you to share your thoughts on the subject, You do have
some basic knowledge of DC electrical systems., keep up the good work.


"Tesla's not ready for prime time”. Thats funny !

If interested you should check out Munro Live a YouTube channel that features
electric car technology. Sandy Munro latest chapter discusses briefly 48volt and the advantages of using it.
He and his crew reverse engineer various cars to discuss engineering details.
Pretty cool..

Cheers

Thanks, interesting to see de constructed. QC Charge also has some interesting info on the guts and what it takes to work on electrics..
As I posted elsewhere on this site, I am now an electric car owner.
The high voltage/ high current controls, are new to me, and I have a lot of respect for the energy that can be released if mishandled. The potential for arc-flash, and the handling precautions needed to work safely are not to be taken lightly, esp in high voltage DC.
Electric vehicles have had a two track development, one was relatively low end pricing and the other has been at the high end. In the US, the high end has been the more successful market. Do we really need a 800 hp electric pick-up? Even the lowly Leaf can smoke the tires just by standing on the "go pedal".
It remains an open question on how well electrics will be accepted. There will always be those who will be drawn to the eccentric nature of them and will put up with the limitations. Then there are those that will not be happy with anything less than gasoline or diesel. The risk still remains of overselling the capabilities, or trying to make them work where there shortcomings would be a problem (long haul trucking).
QC Charge has been working to upgrade some of the weaknesses in the Tesla motor drive (in the area of sealing the coolant from the motor).
Innovations take people willing to take a risk, but lasting change take those that can see the weakness in the innovation and improve on it. Time will tell, but the driveline of electrics will likely outlast the chassie and batteries many times over.
I was interested in the 48 volt and higher when I 1st heard of it back in the late 80's early 90's when I was working on industrial machine that were using 24 and 48 volt systems. They were simple and low speed and unlikely to be involved in high speed crashes. It was also about the time multiplexing was becoming the next new thing.