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Tesla’s makes an electric car called the Model S. This car works because of its incredible battery. Tesla’s battery pack is made of thousands of little batteries. Each little battery is filled with lithium ions. So, the designers say the battery pack is full of thousands of lithium ion cells. Lithium ion cells are also used to power your laptop for hours and hours. These types of batteries are extremely powerful because the chemicals inside can store a lot of electricity.
The battery’s power depends on the number of cells, so a Tesla’s battery weighs over one thousand pounds (a laptop weighs slightly less!). The batteries also come with a heating system, so Tesla car owners can start their car during cold weather.
Just like a cell phone runs out of battery, a car could run out of battery if it is not recharged. A Tesla’s battery pack is recharged by electricity. It’s easy to recharge the battery. There are charging stations at rest stops and malls, and it’s easy to put one in your home too! So neat!
The electricity from the battery is used to power a small motor, which is the size of a watermelon. This tiny, mighty engine converts electrical energy into mechanical work!
The induction motor uses alternating currents (A.C.) of electricity. However, we know batteries supply direct current (D.C.) power. That means engineers need to convert D.C. into A.C.. These engineers used a component called an inverter. The D.C. is always flowing. So, an inverter simply changes which side of the circuit receives the initial flow of electrons. This way the motor gets electricity from one direction, and then the other. It alternates which direction the power comes from so it creates A.C. power.
The A.C. induction motor uses this electricity to produce a magnetic field, causing the rotator inside the engine to move. The rotator is connected to gears. The rotator and the gears rotate in the same direction. The gears are attached to the tires by an axle. The car speeds up when more electricity is sent to the motor which causes the rotator to spin faster which makes the tires rotate faster. So the speed of a Tesla is controlled by the software sending electricity to the A.C. induction motor. All these parts allow this electric car to go from stopped to 60 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds! Count one, two, three, could you imagine going 60 miles per hour already?
Citizen Scientists
https://www.teslarati.com/how-long-will-tesla-battery-last-degradation/
You may know that cell phone batteries hold less charge as they get older. All batteries become less effective as they are used. Tesla owners were curious. Do their Model S batteries get much worse over time? In 2017, Tesla owners across the world added data to a Google Sheet about their battery. This data is “crowdsourced”, which means lots of people added little bits of data. Crowdsourced data is not as good as scientifically discovered data, but it is useful in this case. Tesla drivers almost all reported that their battery was more than 90% effective. Even drivers that charged their car over 500 times!
So, there’s plenty of other electric cars out there, why focus on the Tesla brand? Tesla employees works hard every day to make these cars better and better looking. These cars are fast and look great. So many people want one that you have to order it and then wait for it. People are attracted to buying cars that look nice, are super fast, popular, and help out the planet, too! However, this does not mean there are no other electric car companies! Companies like: BMW, Nissan, Chevrolet, Kia are all successfully building electric cars for families like yours!
One vision, Many inventions
The Tesla Company invents sustainable, electrical solutions for more than just cars! Tesla also sells solar panels and solar roofs that help people create their own energy using the Sun. Their solar roofing tiles are guaranteed for as long as your house is standing “or infinity, whichever comes first.” A guarantee means they promise it will work or they will come fix it. Most roofs are guaranteed for less than 10 years. Tesla guarantees them forever!
If you want to learn more, you can go to their website:
tesla.com/solarroof
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