Not thrilled with censorship on this site

[NWCamper]

Seems this site is censored and controlled. Post at your own risk.

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[Dark-Fx]

Munro missed out on a lot of the innovation in GM's pack. There is a significant amount of stuff done for preventing thermal runaway, lessons learned from the Bolt program. It looks wasteful but it's actually very important IMO.

They also make no mention of the wireless communications which saves a significant amount of copper and wiring intrapack.

 

[emceter]

Munro missed out on a lot of the innovation in GM's pack. There is a significant amount of stuff done for preventing thermal runaway, lessons learned from the Bolt program. It looks wasteful but it's actually very important IMO.

They also make no mention of the wireless communications which saves a significant amount of copper and wiring intrapack.

Munro only ever cares about cost. I remember watching their videos on the Rivian and the only conclusion I ever reached by watching them is "too good, let's save 3 cents by making it worse". It was nice seeing the internal pieces of the Rivian when they did tear downs but I also worried that they will come in and make it worse. I just hope RJ has enough common sense not to let them screw it up too much with their suggestions.

 

[txtravwill]

Have a Hummer EV (or had now). This was a v1 pack. They are on v3 now.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Have a Hummer EV (or had now). This was a v1 pack. They are on v3 now.

I don't think there are many changes inside the pack, most of the changes were to fix sealing issues.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I don't know much about battery engineering so I couldn't honestly say whether or not these batteries are well engineered. I was surprised at the amount of glue, tape and caulk holding the thing together though. It really doesn't look like a final design to me, just like they ran into some problems and their solution was to say "well I dunno how to fix this lets caulk it" and in the sort of mechanical engineering I am familiar with that's a sign that it's poorly done.

Now again, I know little to nothing about batteries and this sort of construction might be the best way to do it. I just doesn't seem like what I would expect.

 

[Zoidz]

I always come away from a Munro video thinking that they are criticizing design and fabrication techniques but they have no clue as to MANY/ALL of the criteria the designers had in mind. In this particular video, I can't help but wonder if the Munro Team designed the battery, how many battery failures and fires would we see?

For example, they flagged the fact that several different thicknesses of insulation were used in various separators and that could have all been the same. GM designers more than likely had a REASON they did that.....

 

[camaroz1985]

I don't see a "crappy battery", and that was definitely not my take away from this video. It is heavy, and uses a lot of pieces. That maybe could be simplified and lightened through the use of castings or extrusions. These teardowns are interesting but should be approached with the understanding that looking at the individual pieces or sub assemblies does not give you any indication of performance metrics or design parameters, so it is very hard to say it is good or bad, just different from how these Munro associates would have done things (and that's not necessarily a bad thing).

 

[docwhiz]

Here's an annotated version that says the quiet part out loud.

 

[blturner]

The Hummer was pretty quick to get to market and a lot less cost sensitive than the Silverado EV will be. I don't think drawing a line between the two makes a lot of sense. But yes, this looks like a fast expensive way to solve the problems.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Here's an annotated version that says the quiet part out loud.

I got as far as the presenter (Tesla fan?) saying GM could even be lying to their investors (0:36) and had to stop. Someone who seems to love Tesla, a company which seems to have no problem with what I'll generously call exaggerations, going after another company because they could do the same in the future is someone I can't take seriously.

 

[azbill]

Something to think about, aluminum melts at about 660 C, steel melts at about 1400 C. Which one is better for thermal runaway protection?

Ford had a Lightning go up in flames at their factory already. I think GM has at least learned something from the Bolt experience. Thermal events will happen with lithium batteries, even if the probabilities remain relatively low.

The Boeing 787 Lithium battery was encased in stainless steel. The onboard fire resulted in smoke, but did not significantly damage or destroy the aircraft.

 

[docwhiz]

Well, Mary Barra has been consistently lying about GM capabilities and plans for EVs. However that's not the point of the video. Munro was being very polite in it's criticism an the video points out just how bad the battery is.

BTW, there is an advert embedded in your post. Did you do that or was it hijacked by this site?

 

[NY_Rob]

For a limited production vehicle like the Hummer that very complicated battery enclosure is acceptable, but that's not going to cut it going forward for a mass-produced vehicle like the Silverado where cost is paramount. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see early Silverado vehicles using a complicated welded steel based enclosure, but once the design is validated/time tested moving to an all cast enclosure for overall cost (materials+fabrication+time to assemble) savings.

 

[rhumbliner]

"too good, let's save 3 cents by making it worse"

Not always. Remember Sandy recommended adding a 2nd motor to the power tonneau to prevent the problems we’ve been seeing. He rightly felt Rivian “cheaped out” on the design.

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