During Elon Musk’s interview with Sandy Munro shared today, the Tesla CEO revealed a tidbit involving the upcoming Model S and Model X refresh.
According to Musk, he says the latest Model S/X refresh will ditch traditional lead acid 12V batteries, and instead see a lithium-ion 12V battery instead.
Traditional 12V batteries power electronics in a vehicle such as lights, windows and more. They are prone to dying quickly in Teslas and are expensive to repair and hard to replace. When these batteries die suddenly, a Tesla owner can get locked out of their vehicle.
According to Musk, he explains to Munro, “With the new S/X, we’re also…we’re finally transitioning to lithium ion 12 volt…it’s got way more capacity and the calendars and cycle life match that of the main pack.”
“We should have done it before now but it’s great that we’re doing it now. This is like one of those inside baseball victories that’s kind of a big deal,” added Musk.
Last September, Musk said “Couldn’t agree more — major software improvements are already in place to extend its life & more coming,” when one Tesla owner requested a warning when the 12V battery was going to die.
Nevertheless, with this switch to a lithium ion 12V battery pack, new Tesla Model S and X refresh owners can rest assured this will be one less maintenance item to worry about.
It’s unclear if Tesla will ever bring this lithium ion 12V battery to the Model 3 and Model Y in the future, but we suspect it will happen at some point in time.
You can listen to Musk talk about the 12V battery pack at the 38-minute mark of the video below:
