The Actual Big Deal About the Tesla Cybertruck
Who do Detroit powerhouses turn to when they want to improve their manufacturing processes for higher quality and lower cost through simplified designs and reduced manufacturing complexity?
Munro & Associates — an engineering consultancy renowned for tearing down cars from and for the Detroit auto companies and the industry, is the go-to source. Since reverse engineering cars is costly (because you have to buy the vehicles), the analysis sells for a pretty penny. The company now focuses on benchmarking electric vehicles (EVs) as the market shifts.
Head honcho Sandy Munro, a silver-haired, mustachioed ex-toolmaker founded the company in 1988. About five years ago, he became famous on YouTube, where he and his henchmen share entertaining automotive teardown videos, much to the delight of engineers, students, and keyboard warriors alike.
He advocates for integrated and lean manufacturing methods, particularly Tesla's practices. He praises the EV manufacturer so much that he got himself a direct line to Elon Musk (who gave Munro access to in-person interviews) and virtually the entire Tesla staff.
Munro’s channel features detailed technical information about Tesla’s products you can't find anywhere else.
Recently, the channel released a fascinating video titled, “Sandy talks to Drew Baglino: Head of Powertrain and Energy, and Pete Bannon: Head of Low Voltage about the HV Power Converter and 48V Body Module,” sharing some hardcore technical details of the Tesla Cybertruck’s power converter.
Let's explore the Cybertruck's battery architecture, with the motors and the high-voltage to low-voltage power converter running on 800V to meet the high power demand.
But here’s the challenge: an 800V architecture is the obvious choice for meeting the demand for high-power vehicles. However, 800V charging stations are still few and far between (and seem broken most times) because most EVs run on ~400V, and most chargers have a ~400V output limit.
When a Cybertruck charges at a supercharger or any other non-800V source, the 800V battery pack switches into two parallel connected 400V strings to become compatible with most charging stations.
Meanwhile, some other car companies do the reverse — offering 400V architecture cars that can fast-charge at one of those elusive 800V charging points. These include the Hyundai Ioniq, the Porsche Taycan, the Audi E-tron GT, and the Lucid Air.
What’s the big deal of having an 800V architecture charging from 400V sources? The idea of charging at a lower voltage than the operating voltage has been one of those “that’s just not done” concepts in battery engineering.
Tesla makes the switchover between 800V and 400V modes the old-school way with a DPDT (double pole, double throw) ka-chunky contactor (see screenshot below.) Despite the somewhat clumsy mechanism, it’s prompting us to rethink what’s possible.
This small step, in fact, is a significant stride — conceptually and practically — toward a software-defined battery (SDB) architecture. If an 800V high-powered truck can charge from a 400V source, what else is possible?
How about going beyond binary flexibility to charge from ANY voltage (instead of just 400 and 800V)? How about switching out lower-performing cells or dynamically rearranging strings to maximize the lifespan of each cell and eliminate the hot potato second-life challenge?
Tanktwo’s Dycromax architecture™️ has already cracked those tough nuts and then some.
Tesla’s architecture has limited applications because it was tailored to meet the Cybertruck’s power demand. It’s still re-living the nightmare of devising expensive custom solutions for every battery problem. (No big deal for the Teslas of the world with bottomless pockets but cost-prohibiting for us mere mortals.)
It’s time to think bigger.
Electrification at a global and meaningful level must go beyond cars and trucks. Industrial, aerospace, medical applications, public safety and security, telecommunications, defense, and other sectors require a flexible and dynamic approach to solving battery challenges — and software-defined batteries hold the answer.
We’re known to make batteries do impossible things. If you have a hairy battery problem, we can figure it out. If you have a hairy problem about the stuff surrounding a battery, we probably have some answers too. Check out our Battery Advisory Services.
