Sometimes the Best Thing to do is Just Blow it Up by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC Britt may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com The Epoch Times newspaper recently published an article about a fellow who bought a brand new Tesla car and reported during the first 1500 miles the car worked fine. Then he started getting computer error codes and, after several trips to the Tesla dealer, the dealer recommended he replace the battery bank. As for how much was it going to cost, this Tesla owner was told: “At least $22,000.” Talk about sticker shock! On top of that, Tesla refused to pay the bill. So what’s a fellow to do when he buys the Mother of all Lemons? Take it out to a rock quarry, strap about 80 pounds of dynamite to it, and blow it to smithereens. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG9Izqp6WWU We don’t know what component(s) failed on this car, but one of the common causes of electric car failure is internal disconnection of the battery cells. These cells are connected in series . . . meaning the “+” terminal on one battery is connected to the “-” terminal on the next battery, which doubles the voltage output while maintaining the same current (amperage) output. For example, the typical lead-acid car battery has six cells connected in series to deliver 12 volts. Any number of batteries can be connected in series to create a wide variety of voltage outputs, up to several hundred volts. The connections between batteries can be “tapped” to provide voltages below the final output simply by connecting a wire between the “+” and “-” terminals of the two batteries. To illustrate this, if you have a 12-volt lead-acid battery, it has six cells wired in series with each cell producing about 2 volts, so the sum total (6 cells x 2 volts) would be about 12 volts. Using a DC (direct current) voltmeter, if you test the voltage from the battery “+” terminal to the “-” terminal on the first cell, you will measure about 2 volts. Testing the voltage from the battery “+” terminal to the “-” terminal on the second cell will measure about 4 volts, and so on. One of the problems with this type of battery construction is it only takes one internal connection from battery to battery to disconnect or “open up” due to vibration, temperature cycles, a minor collision, or other factors - and the entire battery bank is toast. There can be small electrical loads from these “tapped” connections, but most of the time they are used for testing purposes. Each one of these “taps” can be input to a computer and the battery cell condition can be determined. It’s one thing to know there is a bad cell. It’s quite another to locate, remove, and replace the cell. The cost is often prohibitive and one does not know the condition of the other cells. There’s no sense spending time and money to replace one bad cell, only to have another cell fail a few months later. Electric vehicles are fine for certain applications, such as golf carts and light delivery trucks where they can be recharged every night, but the technology just isn’t there yet for “road ready” electric vehicles. Among other things, one can only store so much energy in a finite space and charging times are still measured in hours, not minutes like filling up the car with gasoline. Electric car costs are about ten times what a similar gasoline engine can deliver in terms of power and fuel economy - and that’s not counting repairs needed from time to time. There’s no sense in buying any vehicle that cannot be repaired in a timely and cost-effective manner. 14 MARCH 2022 WorldWide Drilling Resource®
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