News Carbon fiber hewn structural batteries heralded as 'massless' solution for lighter devices

[Admin]

A Swedish startup is working to commercialize carbon fiber that offers not only structural support to a device, but also battery power.

Carbon fiber hewn structural batteries heralded as 'massless' solution for lighter devices : Read more

 

[kyzarvs]

Asking the obvious question - if it's structural, what happens / how safe is it when it breaks?

 

[edzieba]

Structural batteries are common for EVs, though those are usually can-type Lithium chemistry batteries rather than pouch cells. Can-type lithium batteries were common when removable batteries were common (why some were 'lumpy' rather than purely rectangular) and did indeed serve as structural stiffeners for laptops.

 

[Dementoss]

Structural batteries are common for EVs

No, they are not. The housing under the floor, in which the batteries are contained, is often a structural element of the body shell.

 

[Notton]

Yeah, structural batteries in cars is not a thing yet. They're supposed to reduce weight, but no one seems to have figured out how to make it serviceable.
I think Tesla's cybertruck is the only one that uses it right now? And uhh... that thing has been recalled, so.... yeah

I'm not entirely sure where the use cases would be.
If it can't take a beating, then cars, bikes, scooters, laptops would be out.
Maybe it'd be okay for phones and tablets?
But how would you comply with EU laws for serviceability if it's scaled larger than a laptop?

If it can take a few drops or being banged around, then yay!

 

[JTWrenn]

Not a bad idea for extra battery but don't think this will every be the whole battery. Combine this idea with an existing laptop battery and you get a what 10% increase maybe? Not a bad thing but the cost would probably be extreme.

 

[thisisaname]

Nice until you need to replace the battery?

 

[edzieba]

No, they are not. The housing under the floor, in which the batteries are contained, is often a structural element of the body shell.

Nope. Some have isolated cells (cells are isolated from loads in the container walls) but others use the cells as structural elements. The cell cans, the cell contents (dry electrolyte only) and the potting compound all work together as part of a single structural element. Here's a teardown of a structural battery pack.