Hi everybody and welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast where we
dig into the world of technology, sustainable energy
and groundbreaking advancements that are changing how we live
and interact with our environment and with technology.
Today we're going to talk about two major stories making waves
in the automotive sector. The first is Volvo's strategic
partnership with Connected Energy to repurpose old EV
batteries into new energy storage systems, move that holds
promise for reducing battery waste.
And that second story is all about Tesla hitting the
milestone of producing its five millionth electric car and its
ongoing experiments in vehicle manufacturing, which could
drastically cut costs now. Earlier this week, Volvo
announced A collaboration with Connected Energy, a firm
specializing in battery recycling, And Volvo has signed
a letter of intent to construct battery energy storage systems,
or Bess, following an initial investment announced last year.
Now, with E V's becoming increasingly popular, finding a
sustainable way to dispose of or repurpose use batteries has
become a big concern. Now, Volvo and Connected Energy
aimed to tackle this issue by converting these old batteries
into energy storage systems, and these systems will employ
batteries from Volvo's existing line of electric buses, trucks,
and other machinery. Matthew Lumsden, CEO of
Connected Energy, shared his enthusiasm about expanding their
technology to the European market in collaboration with
Volvo Energy. Elizabeth Larson, Volvo's Energy
Senior VP for Sales and Services, echoed these
sentiments, highlighting the benefits of aligning the project
with the principles of the circular economy.
Now, Volvo expects to introduce this new energy storage system
in Europe by 2025. Furthermore, at its Gothenburg
facility in Sweden, Volvo has already started using connected
energies E store system to access grid response rates.
Now switching gears, let's talk about Tesla, the EV manufacturer
that continues to make headlines.
This week, Tesla announced that it had produced its five
millionth electric vehicle, a staggering accomplishment when
you consider the pace at which the company has been ramping up
its production. The first million took 12 years,
the second million 18 months, and now Tesla is on track to
reach the 6 million mark by early of 2024.
All of this production is contributing to Tesla's status
is the largest all electric car manufacturer globally, with a
growth rate that shows no signs of slowing down.
Now what makes this story even more interesting is the way
Tesla is changing the game in vehicle manufacturing.
And according to a recent port, Tesla is getting closer to
achieving its goal of die casting the underbody of its
cars in one piece. Now, traditional manufacturing
techniques often involve up to 400 original pieces that need to
be assembled, which can be both time consuming and costly.
And if Tesla succeeds, they could cut manufacturing costs by
up to 50%, setting a precedent for the industry.
However, the shift in manufacturing isn't without
challenges. Tesla's working with 3D printing
and industrial sand to make prototypes, which gives them
greater flexibility for design changes without breaking the
bank. And even then, achieving the
final product requires overcoming substantial hurdles
like the formulation of special alloys and fine tuning the
molten alloy cooling process. But if Tesla pulls this off,
they'll set a new benchmark for the industry, putting
considerable pressure on traditional manufacturers to
adapt or risk becoming obsolete. Now let's do a bonus story here.
Let's pivot from the roads to space, where something
monumental is happening. NASA is collaborating with
SpaceX to create the Human Landing system, the Starship
Human Landing System, which will play a critical role in the
Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 missions, and these missions aim
to land American astronauts close to the moon's South Pole.
The HLS will use two distinct types of SpaceX Raptor engines,
one tailored for sea level atmospheric conditions and the
other for operations in space where there's no atmosphere now.
Last month, SpaceX showcased an important milestone for the
vacuum optimized Raptor engine. They ran a test proving that the
engine could successfully operate under extremely cold
temperatures, temperatures that a spacecraft would experience
after spending extended periods in space.
And this test is significant because one of the challenges
specific to Artemis missions compared to low Earth orbit
missions is that the landing systems might have to remain
inactive in space for an extended period of time.
Now this causes the temperature of the hardware to plummet to
levels much colder than what one would typically find on shorter
missions closer to Earth. The company and already reach a
significant testing milestone in November of 2021 and SpaceX
demonstrated the Raptor engines ability to manage a crucial part
of landing on the Moon during a 281 second test firing.
This test aimed to verify two things.
First, it tested the Raptors throttle profile, its ability to
modulate engine power over time. Second, it verified that the
engine could sustain a burn for the entire duration of the
descent phase of the mission. Both objectives were
successfully achieved bolstering NASA's early trust in Spacex's
engine development program. Simulation and insitu testing
are vital for refining Artemis Moon Landers.
Now these test runs offer a kind of mission like validation of
the systems that will be responsible for transporting
astronauts to and from the lunar Surfaced and post test data
assessments offer NASA continuously growing confidence
in the preparedness of the US industry for the mission.
And what's next for Spacex's Raptor engines?
They're slated for further testing during Spacex's upcoming
second integrated flight test, involving both the Starship in
its booster, the Super Heavy System, and by bringing in
SpaceX and its innovative engine technology, NASA aims to ensure
the success of future lunar missions.
With rigorous testing and continued advancements, the
partnership could usher in a new era of space exploration, paving
the way for more advanced missions that extend well beyond
the moon. While that was a packed episode
and we've covered Volvo's efforts and reimagining EV
battery waste, Tesla's groundbreaking vehicle
production and manufacturing methods, and NASA's partnership
with SpaceX for lunar landings, each of these stories presents a
unique angle on how technology and innovation can address
challenges and create opportunities for a better
future. And if you found this episode
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next one.