Tesla just announced that in a month, it will bring out a new product line, not a car. Other recent announcements hint that Tesla will be making batteries for microgrid storage. Here is my wild guess -- maybe in a couple of years, we will have access to batteries for RV use that will store 600 amp hours. The batteries will be no heavier and bulkier than our current lead-acid units. They will last longer and charge faster. And they will cost four times as much.Let's see if any of these guesses pan out! (You know you are getting older when your fantasies focus on storage batteries for camping. That is not what I used to dream about when I was a young man.)

Regardless of your personal issues with having dreams about batteries, this sounds like a good development. One battery could do the work now done by several, freeing up valuable storage space.

Have a look at the Micro Start, link follows. I received one of these as an Xmas parcel. It is truly a delightful piece of kit. Son in law used it to start a 6.0 litre diesel that had a dead battery. No Sweat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!http://antigravitybatteries.com//

Lithium batteries demand rock solid charging and discharging monitoring and control. This means sensors and electronic control modules. I believe this point is the hurdle to be cleared before large lithium batteries would be turned loose in freelance applications. The second point is temperature. Lithium rechargeable demands maintaining them within a specific temperature spectrum.

Antigravity largest size:Twenty-Five amp hours for Four hundred thirty dollars. Let's see, a bank of two hundred amp hours would do nicely for an RV. On my calculator that comes to a total where there aren't enough decimal places. Have to sell the toad in order to scratch up enough cash for a proper charger.There exists incredibly efficient cryogenic withstanding solar panels for orbiting platforms. And category IV night vision goggles, and the presidential suite at the Gran Bay hotel in Barra de Navidad.How sweet it is to dream...

Wild guess -- we will soon be using Tesla batteries for RVs

brulaz
Explorer
May 01, 2015
My main question is the ~400V output voltage.

Guess there must be some Solar controllers out there that can deal with that. And land-line battery chargers that can charge a 400VDC battery bank? And presumably 110VAC inverters and 12VDC converters that can deal with 400VDC?

But I bet they are all very pricey and probably high powered units designed for much bigger arrays than we have on our RVs.
profdant139
Explorer II
May 01, 2015
The press releases concerning the new Powerwall system (that's what Tesla is calling it) don't list RV usage as an intended application -- I wonder if these units are tough enough to withstand the bouncing that an RV would entail?

At $3000 this is still out of reach -- but it is tantalizing. If I had several hundred amp/hours, I could go for much more than a week without charging. I wonder how long it takes to charge one of these beasts, and whether there is a limit on how far you can draw it down. My lead/acid batteries are not supposed to be discharged below 50% state of charge, or 12.1 volts -- that means that my 110 amp hour group 31s can't give me much more than 55 amp hours, or three days' usage.
tpi
Explorer
May 01, 2015
Hey always good to see progress. I usually am early adopter but on this one probably I'll wait till it is mainstream. Current AGM/solar seems to be all I need. But eventually smaller..lighter..more powerful what's not to like?
Gjac
Explorer III
May 01, 2015
I must still be a "young man". I have simple battery req's just lights and water pump. My camping stay is limited by water, FW and and what to do with the waste water. Now if I could solve the water problem then I guess I would be an "old man". Having stated the practical I too would love a "solar city" for my house that was cost effective.
jrnymn7
Explorer
May 01, 2015
Don't let the initial price tag fool you. If you take the time to crunch the numbers, you may just find Lithium to be cheaper in the long run... or at least, about the same... but with way less headaches.
brulaz
Explorer
May 01, 2015
More info:
Power
2.0 kW continuous, 3.3 kW peak
Voltage
350 – 450 volts
Current
5 amp nominal, 8.5 amp peak output

Hmm not sure about 400VDC/12VDC converters.
And 8.5A peak output? Maybe at 400V, guess that would be ok...
brulaz
Explorer
May 01, 2015
Here they are: Tesla Powerwall
US$3000 for 7kWh, what's that in Ah @12V? ~583Ah
Not cheap.

Press release at the bottom:
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/30/tesla-powerwall-expands-ev-battery-tech-home-business/

http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall
beemerphile1
Explorer
Apr 01, 2015
Roadtrek sells an E-trek (all electric) class B with Li batteries.
pawatt
Explorer
Apr 01, 2015
Corkey05 wrote:
Lithium for RV's has been around for a few years. I can't find my link, but one MH owner has been testing a set for almost four years and last I heard still going strong. More power, less weight.

If you have deep pockets - Lithium RV Batteries

What I'll be watching with Tesla is, ... number one, quality. number two, Price. Number three, competition forcing innovation. I honestly believe the lead batteries we're using today has their days numbered.

In fact I think it's Liberty Coach who uses nothing but Lithium Batteries now.

Technomadia has been using and testing them for several years, check their blog.
free_radical
Explorer
Apr 01, 2015
Nunyadamn wrote:
I think Tesla has the batteries figured out. They are building a giga-factory in Nevada. I don't think they would be doing that without knowing what they are doing. I follow Elon Musk on twitter and he is also talking about solar city and them hitting 5Gwh of daily energy (a record for daily solar). I am hoping he is starting to build solar panels too.

Today - from Elon Musk on twitter - "With all that solar power being generated, it almost feels like something is needed to complete the picture..."

So, I too assume it is a battery for home off-grid use. I am looking forward to not paying the power company anymore - the future.

My highest electric power bill was 75$ this winter per month...will be a long time before solar and batteries can beat that!