Tesla has equipped its latest electric pickup truck Cybertruck with a 48V electrical architecture for the first time. Now CEO Musk is sharing the system design diagram of this technology patent with other car manufacturers, attempting to shake the voltage status quo of the automotive industry's battery system that has not been upgraded for over 70 years.
The automotive industry has been using 12V electrical systems for a long time, but currently the carrying capacity of this system has almost reached its limit, unable to support the increasing demand for intelligent and comfortable driving. Tesla's opening of a 48V electrical architecture patent design is expected to accelerate the widespread application of this technology.
Ford CEO Jim Farley expressed gratitude to Musk for this and praised it as beneficial for the entire automotive industry. The use of a 48V system not only means technological progress, but also significantly simplifies the wiring harness, which accounts for about 5% of the total cost, thereby reducing body weight and manufacturing costs.
Copper is one of the most commonly used metals in electric vehicles. According to Musk, the amount of copper required in a car after boosting is only a quarter of the amount required for a 12V battery. If calculated based on the annual production of 20 million electric vehicles, Tesla can save over $10 billion.
The difficulties of transformation are foreseeable. As early as 1988, the Society of Automotive Engineers in the United States proposed raising the standard voltage of passenger cars to 42V. The high cost of component replacement and the lack of obvious immediate benefits were objective obstacles to the voltage increase at that time.
A senior automotive software engineer told Interface News that many chassis related systems in European automotive companies have been switched to 48V, and Tesla's main innovation point this time is the vehicle boost. "The technical difficulty is not significant, but rather involves the power of discourse in the cooperation model between suppliers and automotive companies."
Changing the voltage of the car system not only requires a higher performance battery, but also upgrades the series of equipment including the audio system, wipers, and headlights to 48V. The production plan of the whole vehicle factory drives the pace of the entire supply chain, and most traditional car manufacturers are making slow progress in voltage architecture upgrades. Third party suppliers who cannot obtain large quantities of orders are unwilling to take the risk of producing related accessories for new systems.
An engineer who has been working in traditional car manufacturers for more than ten years told Interface News that most of Tesla's patents are aimed at reducing costs, and the corresponding industries of related parts may gradually reflect economies of scale after patent opening. Electric vehicle related talents are also expected to increase in this process, and "the ultimate beneficiaries will be the entire industry, including Tesla itself."
Since Tesla announced the free release of electric vehicle related patents in 2014, "open source" has become a frequently used term by Musk on social networks, but every related decision has sparked new controversy. After Tesla shared the 48V electrical architecture patent design, no other large-scale automaker except Ford announced a follow-up.
Australian media outlet The Drive stated that 48V poses new safety challenges, including how to upgrade protection to prevent electric shock. In addition, there is no consensus on whether it is necessary to connect all small motors such as window lifting, entertainment, and seats to 48V.
Automotive blogger @ Dongche Lao Wang told Interface News that replacing 12V with a 48V power supply is something that consumers cannot perceive in the short term. "This is a game in the upstream cost structure of the product," he said
It remains to be observed how much energy Tesla can generate in boosting its peers. The senior automotive software engineer mentioned above stated that the new car making forces represented by "Weixiaoli" in China had chosen other technological routes a long time ago and were unlikely to adopt this Tesla patent.
"American car manufacturers are likely to follow up in the future. On the one hand, traditional American car companies are relatively weak in the current electrification competition, and on the other hand, Tesla's charging standards are constantly growing. As the first responder to Tesla's full 48V, Farley has publicly called on more car manufacturers to work together to help supply chain companies complete their transformation.".