The Tesla Model Y has increased the 10-year technical advantage the Model 3 already had over its rivals by three to four years. According to the president of Munro & Associates, in the electric SUV, the Californian manufacturer has evolved many construction details.
According to Sandy Munro, technically, when it comes to “sensors and battery cells,” The Tesla Model Y is the most advanced electric car on the market. If in 2017 the Model 3 was already 10 years ahead of the competition, the Model Y, which began to be sold in March of this year, has advanced another three or four years. Does Tesla captivate technicians like this, does it have a real effect on customers’ purchasing intentions and the industry?
Sandy Munro is a former Ford Motor engineer who has spent more than three decades working on competitive analysis in the automotive industry. He currently chairs Munro & Associates, an American firm based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, specializing in the piece-by-piece disassembly of vehicles and the marketing of reports to other manufacturers and suppliers (reverse engineering). His knowledge is widely recognized by the industry since in most cases he is right about who is leading the way and who is technically lagging.
Munro & Associates analysis
When the Model Y went on sale in March 2020, Munro began a detailed analysis of all its components, thanks to a comprehensive teardown that can be followed through his videos on YouTube. Three years ago, when Tesla put the Model 3 up for sale, Munro performed the same operation on it. “I thought the Model 3 was 10 years ahead of everyone else,” Munro told Automotive News Europe. After examining the individual components and construction of the Model Y piece by piece, “I am convinced that it is another three or four years ahead ”.
Currently, “Tesla’s only real competition is itself,” he says. At this time, that the manufacturer is captivating technicians in this way, how does it translate to an industrial and commercial level?
The electric vehicle market is currently a great competitive field at a technological level. Around it, new technical approaches emerge as a result of the fact that practically every manufacturer in the world is committing to electrify their fleet. At an industrial level, this means that the current technological leader is the benchmark that others want to reach to overcome and remain competitive. For this, it is necessary to advance in all fields to increase autonomy and efficiency: from battery cells, through the design of electric motors, to heating and cooling systems.
In all of them, “Tesla has reached a depth that I just don’t see anywhere else,” Munro says. This circumstance does not mean that the engineer can criticize the widely reported manufacturing, paint and finish quality failures of the Californian company.
However, at the buyer level, all this technological advance is not that important. “People who buy an electric car don’t buy that. They’re looking for the million-mile battery. They’re looking for range.” Although the end-user does not perceive in its entirety the technology that Tesla includes in its cars, it does receive all its advantages.
Battery capacity and consumption
Tesla was already the industry benchmark for battery life. The efficiency of the Tesla Model Y is palpable in the homologation data. In the American EPA cycle, the range of the Model Y Long Range is 316 miles (508 kilometers), while that of the Model 3 is 322 (518 kilometers), just 6 miles more, despite the extra weight of the SUV. Tesla is also capable of modifying the software of its cars to increase the efficiency of the whole. This year, the Model S reached 647 kilometers of homologated range (402 miles) in the EPA cycle and 647 kilometers in the WLTP.
The air conditioning of the Model Y
The Model Y is the only Tesla car that uses a new generation heat pump developed in-house by the manufacturer and known as the Octovalve. The component bears its own stamped logo (an octopus with a snowflake on its head). It is a set of valves that control and direct the heating and cooling functions. It is part of a system that includes a semi-solid forged aluminum coolant manifold and a four-position, eight separate port stepper motor.
The heat pump is a common component in electric cars, but according to Munro, the introduction of the Octovalve renders the Model Y’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, unlike any other competitor system. It seems to come straight out of the aerospace industry.
According to Elon Musk himself, “most customers will never notice it exists.” But they will notice its effects. The system can heat or cool the passenger compartment faster than a normal system. In addition, it saves space and represents a reduction in parts, and therefore reduces the cost compared to other electric vehicles. In addition, it can selectively heat and cool specific parts of the vehicle’s cabin, which also helps improve range by reducing the amount of energy required by the system.
Electronics
The new neural chip that includes the Tesla Model Y, developed by Tesla, will serve to control the advanced functions of autonomous driving that will arrive in the coming years. It multiplies by 21 the processing capacity of the previous chip manufactured by Nvidia. The new brain of Tesla cars will be able to process 2,300 frames and perform 36 billion operations per second, for 80% compared to the previous one.
In addition, the Tesla system has two redundant chips located next to each other on the circuit board so as not to compromise safety in the event of a failure.
Electric motors
Tesla has also gained some efficiency with the new aluminum rotor induction front electric motor, which replaces the copper one in the Model 3. To control the power to the electric motors, the vehicle’s inverter/converter remains practically free. changes concerning the saloon.
Battery
The Model Y’s battery is 75 kWh of capacity and is the same as that used in the Model 3. Munro believes that Tesla batteries are ahead of the competition because of their design. Inside it uses thousands of cylindrical cells, instead of the prismatic or bag-like format of other manufacturers. Cylindrical cells are less expensive to produce and do not require such complex packaging.
Tesla and Panasonic signed a new three-year battery supply agreement in June, although the Californian manufacturer will have other suppliers for its factories in China and Europe, and has also been working on producing its cells.
Recharge network
Since Tesla has been on the market, the biggest advantage that its electric cars offer is the network of Superchargers that currently extends throughout the world. Tesla opened its first charging station in Los Angeles in 2013. About seven years later, the manufacturer has announced that it has already surpassed 2,000 charging stations in 41 countries, between North America, Europe, and Asia, with more than 18,000 chargers. total. The Supercharger network is present in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Asia-Pacific region, and in 29 European countries (new stations are planned in another eight countries).
The new generation V3 Superchargers will reach a charging power of up to 250 kW, which means recovering 120 kilometers in five minutes.
Upgrades
The updates Tesla is one of the features that matter most to car owners from the American manufacturer. Without a doubt, the possibility of improving the car over time is something that until Tesla, no one offered. Through them, the car can improve its performance, improve Autopilot, recharge faster, modify the appearance of the interface, include new functions, turn the car into a leisure room, and so on. In addition, all this is achieved without the need to go to a workshop, since, as if it were a mobile, The update arrives through the car’s 4G connection, is downloaded and installed at the moment the owner indicates it.
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