Munro Live released today another update on the Made-in-Texas (MIT) Tesla Model Y's structural battery pack teardown.
After a struggle with opening the pack, the team was able to finally remove the steel lid and reveal the battery - or rather a pink polyurethane brick.
According to the video, there is a solution to dissolve the polyurethane, which would enable getting into the 4680-type cylindrical battery cells and other stuff - circuits on the top and the BMS in the rear.
An interesting thing is that, while the top of the pack is made out of steel, the bottom of the enclosure is aluminum.
In the previous update, it was noted that the new structural battery pack is not envisioned for repairs. The base case scenario is that the pack will withstand the entire life of the vehicle (or maybe more), and then it will be recycled.
Tesla's CEO Elon Musk ensures that there is no problem with recycling:
"No problem to recycle the 4680 pack. Just think of any battery pack as super high grade ore – it is always better to start with high grade ore than low grade!"
Long hours and days are ahead of Munro Live to continue the teardown and complete the research on the latest Tesla solution.
Meanwhile, some other enthusiasts are already delivering some very interesting research results of an early 4680-type battery cell.
The new cells reportedly offer competitive energy density (despite a thicker steel can compared to 2170-type). When combined with a structural battery pack, the company is expected to achieve some substantial weight savings at the vehicle level.
This will be probably the key thing for Munro & Associates to quantify. We guess that other manufacturers are eagerly waiting to get a report and maybe some of them will also try to develop a structural battery pack.
Weight is one of the most important factors and a disadvantage of electric vehicles due to heavy batteries. During Battery Day, Tesla outlined the idea that a structural battery could offset some of the vehicle structure, so the EV could be significantly lighter.
