Electric Vehicle Battery Breakdown: Cells to Modules to Packs!

In this video, Tom breaks down the different styles of EV batteries, from the cell level to the packs, explaining the distinctions between them.
Munro Live is a KZbin channel that features Sandy Munro and other engineers from Munro & Associates. Munro is an engineering consulting firm and a world leader in reverse engineering, costing, and teardown benchmarking.
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#electricvehicle #batteries #automotive

[@RichardJOberle]

This was the best explanation of batteries that I have seen. It helped to see the insides. Tabs and no tabs.

[@mattwill63]

batteries are more complex than engines therefore ev are more prone to issues.

[@sillystuff6247]

Agreed. It's outstanding.

[@judo-rob5197]

Definitely worth the watch.

[@banderson8444]

​@@mattwill63Matt You seem to be forgetting that there is much more to an ICE car than the engine (alternator, belts, transmission, axel, U-joints, etc)

[@user-nm6qq9jq6n]

​Many EV's have u-joints

[@craigfreeman9280]

Wow, what a great lecture on battery packs, thanx! ❤

[@MunroLive]

Glad you liked it!

[@bertiewalker5140]

I think this is the best battery video I’ve ever seen and I think I’ve seen them all. It clear, concise and detailed. Your presentation was way above the best. Please do more.

[@MunroLive]

Wow, thanks!

[@rchender]

Really nice, detailed and informative explanation of several different energy dense designs. Thank you.

[@joebullwinkle5099]

Hey Tom, what an intellectual feast of a presentation for non engineer lay people to gain a deeper understanding of the various EV battery configurations and how they work. For someone like myself who has recently purchased a first EV vehicle and wishes to gain a deeper understanding of EV engineering architecture, this was absolutely fabulous. Thank you so much for taking the time to produce this. I would love to see more presentations like this on other general aspects of EV vehicles, maybe you could do one on the various types and configurations of the motors?

[@chrisjohnson2065]

Missed this channels uploads.

[@tonyabruzzio7399]

That was amazing. Best battery video I have seen and loved the examples of different OEM approaches.

[@teitpoulsen7183]

Super explanation and we'll articulated to boot! More of this for other topics please!

[@keithrange4457]

Fantastic video. Best Monroe vid I've watched in a couple years. Love this guy and you can tell he loves his craft

[@MunroLive]

Wow, thanks!

[@timanderson8833]

Thank you very much for the clear and competent exposé of a complex issue.

[@MunroLive]

Glad it was helpful!

[@elwing021]

Amazing video thanks for sharing this video, a lot of information and knowledge. hope we can get more and similar videos

[@MunroLive]

More to come!

[@HelmutTschemernjak]

What a cool spreadsheet, thank you for explaining it.

[@theonebucketlist]

Excellent video! I’ve worked on battery separators for four years and this is a great and understandable summary of many different aspects. Also good to leave power draw to a different video as it depends on a lot of aspects of cell design (not just the raw values) as well as the pack design, especially thermal management. So it deserves its own video.

[@FutureSystem738]

Excellent descriptive video - so well explained, thank you.

[@disneymike3311]

Awesome video! Best explanation of EV batteries on a low level that I can understand. Thank you!

[@mystisith3984]

Thanks for sharing the knowledge about this critical technology.

[@brendanmcorrie8699]

Fantastic, comprehensive and concise, best battery configuration explanation I have seen, well done,

[@williamclark6466]

This is an excellent overview of battery designs and function. Thank you so much.

[@pnketia]

Great detailed explanation of the various battery/cell packs and their construction.

[@user-qk8mu4iy7b]

Good afternoon! The table is wonderful. Thank you for your work.

[@gregtaylor9945]

Great video Tom! Can’t wait to see the next more in depth video on deeper understanding of BMS.

[@dotancohen]

@2:15 I saved this screenshot, thank you! From this moment forward I knew that this would be an informative video. It did not disappoint!

[@garyrooksby]

Tom really knows his stuff!

[@dollarette]

wonderful overview and explanation from a very great person.

[@_mysilentblue2227]

I love the details, you can always count on Munro for quality videos.

[@johnchristopher7697]

Great presentation and explanation of EV batteries! Thank you!

[@gepetotube]

This is a great video. Very good presentation. Love the amount of knowledge you get in Munro's videos.

[@MunroLive]

Much appreciated!

[@De4dCert]

Fantastic explanation of current battery technology used in the field today!

[@aaronrunkle]

Great video! Particularly loved the beginning to end flow and the spreadsheet! One thing that's worth mentioning is the BMS will balance each of the series individually and that over time, the individual cells in parallel for each of these series can diverge in ampacity and voltage. This is because balancing happens at the series level, not cell level, and cells vary in resistance (degrade) over time. As such, having all cells in series, like in the case of the Tesla LFP prismatic, creates the added benefit of individual cell-level monitoring since there are no parallel groups. Additionally, the lower voltages of LFP, while seemingly a drawback, allow for charging to 100% and significantly reduce unwanted reactions that would otherwise occur over 80% state of charge (>4v per cell of 4.2v max) in NMC chemistries. Other benefits for LFP include higher cycle life, lower cost, higher safety, and environmentally friendly (no cobalt). Of course, nothing is perfect and the primary drawbacks to LFP include lower volumetric and gravimetric energy density as well as poor cold weather performance. I just wish the US M3 RWD, which uses quality CATL LFP cells, wasn't de-contented with fewer speakers, only 170kw max DC fast charging (vs 250kw for LR), and 32 amp home charging (vs 48a for LR). Tesla should offer a premium upgrade option to the M3 RWD for those who are looking for LFP and not have reduced functionality to hit a price target. Perhaps this is due to the C rating on the LFP prismatic cells (would be great deep-dive material!). Last but not least, it will be interesting to see if Tesla moves to LMFP chemistry in the future for slightly better cold weather performance and volumetric/gravimetric energy density to the detriment of cycle life.

[@LuisAlfonsoGarciaSegundo]

Awesome video! One of the best from Munro!

[@MunroLive]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@morrisg]

Great start, Tom. Next I'd like to see a discussion of how the pack organization affects the ability to draw/input (discharge/charge) massive power. This is probably a discussion of resistance in milliohms and how to minimize that to minimize heat generation and maximize the available power delivered as opposed to generating heat within the pack that has to be removed through cooling. A discussion of connector resistance vs busbar resistance (minimizing the number of modules) would be helpful. Example: Jaguar I-Pace has 34 modules with external wires & connectors compared to a Tesla Model 3 which has 4 modules with busbar interconnects.

[@budgetaudiophilelife-long5461]

🙋‍♂️TOM ,THANK YOU AND ALL YOUR PEOPLE FOR DOING THIS AND EXPLAINING IT CLEARLY FOR THE LAYPEOPLE 🤔💚💚💚

[@scotttitensor8557]

Great video, please include the LFP battery pack built by CATL. Used by Tesla and other manufacturers. Would be interesting to see differences.

[@Jake00001]

Thank you. Very educational and can you please do a continuation?

[@tecal123456]

Great video. Would love this type of video on EV battery manufacturing.

[@waveskifun2631]

Thank you. I looking forward to watching more of your videos.

[@d350148]

Good explanation. Would you like to add to the excel the weight of the pack.

[@vinodpund1574]

Great battery technology knowledge sharing 🎉🎉🎉

[@MunroLive]

Thanks for watching

[@het8555]

Was waiting for a good EV battery pack/module video…. Very well done!

[@andersemanuel]

Very very good show! Thank you. It will be interesting to watch you discuss the power delivery these packs can handle. Kw

[@keenanjeff]

Great info he brings it all together! More on cell temperatures what is optimum for fast charging and power delivery and how the cooling system and heat scavenging works together.

[@ElectricCarAustralia]

Very well explained video. Keep up the great work. 👍

[@rienkvandenberg9103]

This guy is explaining it realy well. No new information for me but still good to watch!

[@Youno954]

Very informative!! Thank you 🙏

[@theonlymadmac4771]

Very good explanation! Thanks!

[@serraxer]

Awesome work, thank you for your effort.

[@PeaceChanel]

Thank You for supporting Electric Vehicles and for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮ ❤

[@vishalramadoss668]

Wonderful and clear explanation. Thank you.

[@DericO-rz3be]

*MORE* Professor Tom! *Terrific*

[@joevwgti.]

More of this please. That was embarrassingly brilliant.

[@fluke196c]

why embarassing? didn't understand

[@Doctorbasss]

Awsome content!, Very complete for a 37 minutes video ! well explained, excellent explaination rate, We want more like that!

[@MunroLive]

More to come!

[@dolcelattice4958]

Finest work yet from an associate of Munro.

[@andrewvercillo6225]

What an awesome video. Please make the follow up to explain more!!

[@johnreese3762]

Very well done, explained. I appreciate this video! Hi Sandy!!

[@MunroLive]

Thanks for watching!

[@Shadow0fd3ath24]

the batteries and production constantly being updated is the coolest ideas about these cars

[@jaaklucas1329]

Good breakdown on packs. I like how they have evolved.

[@VedaSay]

Awesome detailed presentation.

[@MunroLive]

Glad you liked it!

[@pravusnex]

Wonderful overview. A lot of connections made in my brain today. Also ... nice pun .... Ohm's Law will certainly ground your understanding of how it all works ;)

[@sgerardschulte7691]

Great vid Tom, congrats!

[@zeitgeist888]

Excellent and very informative. I would be interested to hear more about C rate and voltage sag particularly between the various Tesla packs.

[@OAK-808]

Great lecture. Thanks.

[@deltajohnny]

Awesome... really informative!! 👏👏👏👏

[@paulgilliland2992]

Whoa this man knows his stuff . I learned everything about battery construction except for the actual chemistry . The issue of thermal runaway is pretty fascinating and there have been a few major events around the worlds.

[@andrewvercillo6225]

AWESOME VIDEO!! Kudos

[@jb3246]

Great Video! I love to see the differences, especially the changes and improvements made over time. I would love to see a tear down video of the Tesla LFP battery used in the Model 3 RWD. Do you have any videos or pictures of that battery (cells/module/pack)?

[@J_Lukey]

Great lecture! Would love to see a deeper dive into BMS as well

[@MunroLive]

Noted!

[@joscubadiver]

Fantastic information thank you 🔌

[@MunroLive]

Our pleasure!

[@flyincmp]

Wow Munro is back! I love this stuff keep up the great work. I have a 4680 Y if you’re looking for topics why is the charging so bad, and can it get better through software updates?? I know the cyber truck has a similar structure. Will that also be an ongoing issue or is that able to be fixed. Thanks!

[@ssmit262]

Outstanding content; love it Tom. “The tip of the iceberg” haha

[@lanceareadbhar]

I love taking the mystery out of this since so many people have the wrong impression about the battery in an EV.

[@lnfinity4752]

Very nice presentation. I would like to see a discussion of failed cells, batteries, and associated hardware showing real-life examples.

[@ForTheBirbs]

Thanks for an awesome video. So well explained

[@MunroLive]

Glad you liked it

[@abcd-by6rw]

Great video, thank you. C rates, and the consequences of designing for high voltage and low current, and vice versa, would be really interesting.

[@Mapleninja1964]

This was great thanks.

[@fifthager]

This excellent overview of EV battery pack design challenges and options shows how the critical elements determining the reliability and service life of vehicles are changing from the mechanical to the chemical. This video clearly showed that sealants, coolants, conducting/insulating/supporting foams and gels used in the pack are in a demanding environment, and all have a critical role in reliability. Let's hope all the goops last.

[@bobholland9924]

Great video. I was starting to think you all went away.

[@aussietaipan8700]

This was awesome. A friend of mine has a BYD seal with an 82KWH LFP battery, he claims he can get 500km useable range yet my model S with its 85KWH battery is good for 390km. Tesla service have advised me the battery health in my model S is 96% - excellent rate for a 9 year old EV. The car has never been super charged and the max charge for 99% driving is 70-80% and min never been less than 25%.

[@BrockMcLellan]

Most interesting and enjoyable video. What's missing? Having a VW Buzz, I would like to know more about how VW batteries are organized. Then again, it would be interesting to know more about my daughter's BMW i3, and her inlaw's upcoming Volvo EX30. Undoubtedly, every owner would like to know more about their specific configuration. So I hope you will have some sort of overview of battery types and how the various OEMs make use of them.

[@CarloBenedicti-nx1np]

Excellent insight!

[@EricP36]

Good video, thanks!

[@JarmelSingsKaraoke]

🔥Always have me Learning 😊

[@dtriplett03]

Well done, detailed enough explanation. 2020s BMS technology. Cant wait to see the next Evolution of it...🎉❤

[@pietromiglio9110]

Great video, good explanation 👍🏼

[@MunroLive]

Thank you! 👍

[@MrPodoprygora1]

Дякую за розширену інформацію, дуже цікаво!

[@Wishmegoodluck]

Great explanation Tom.

[@freeaccess5905]

Very nice presentation. It would be nice to have more information on other battery packs instead of just Tesla. For example the VW, Audi, BYD and wireless control of the GM Ultium packs. It would be nice to add some energy density data to your spreadsheet by adding weight and volume data. Maybe even charge cycles to a certain efficiency loss? Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@JohnKlinger]

Awesome battery explanation! Thank you for putting this together. This is the most neglected part of EV car reviews and in my eyes also the most important. Very cool how Tesla has essentially glued the cells together while still managing venting of the cells. Tesla's new cell fusing is also very cool. I would love to see a video on discharge rate comparisons with the various EV companies. Are pouch cells more powerful in this regard with higher c rates? From a longevity standpoint, would you consider the cylindrical cells better than the pouch cells or have they solved the pouch cell swelling and failures in the recent EV packs? From a safety standpoint are the pouch cells still more volatile than the cylindrical cells?

[@ckupcu]

Hello Tom, it is a very useful video - thank you again. Would be nice to add next time at the bottom of your spread-sheet battery pack's total weight in "kg" and "kWh/kg" ratio. This will help us to see which OEM managed to pack them more efficiently. Thanks in advance.

[@BigBrotherHal2001]

Would love to see some of your suggestions about shape/size of cells & cooling pack designs to maximize efficiency, reduce casing cell material weight, and perhaps improve or reduce thermal runaway to smaller and smaller numbers of cells.

[@mini2nut67]

Great job Tom! Automotive battery packs are simply tons of laptop batteries hooked up in series and parallel. BEV’s still need a battery cell breakthrough that is simple, safe, affordable and scalable. Now bring us the Cybertruck tear down!

[@meganote]

Nice presentation. Would also like to see some looks into the Tesla LFP packs (maybe compare and contrast the BYD Blade and the CATL LFP packs). Currently, these are very prominent in both China and Europe, and soon will be in the USA, I believe, due to lower cost. Especially when the LMFP chemistries are in vehicles.

[@MunroLive]

We would love to get our hands on a BYD pack.

[@michaelhess4825]

This was fantastic!

[@aliuyar6365]

Munro is the real thing. All others annotation to it

[@scottjarriel6761]

It will be interesting to see an update of this video when you get a chance to take apart the Cybertruck cell packs, to see if they are doing anything different with those 4680 packs, regarding cooling, and the dynamic pack re-arrangement.

[@Tooradj]

Loved this post. Looking forward to more on this topic. Lightning does not reduce regen power when battery is cold. How bad is this?

[@tbopardikar]

Great explanation, Tom. Could you recommend a book to learn about the battery packs?

[@jasong7374]

Brilliant, thanks for that

[@larryslomowitz3107]

So much information EV enthusiast would love know. I have a feeling it’s going to be my favorite sleep aid. lol

[@stephenmathews5269]

What a masterclass

[@markcross3890]

Great explanation

[@MunroLive]

Glad you think so!

[@VTACTechnical]

Superb vid guys...💥💥💥