TESLA ENGINEER

-BOOSTS EVv
>RANGET VIEW HEIGHT
^ A JB Straubel is this year's Engineer of the Year for his dogged determination to boost the range of battery-powered electric vehicles

STORY.CHARLES J. MURRAY, SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITOR, ELECTRONICS

hen Charol Straubel's 14-year-old son was rebuilding an old electricgolf cart in 1989, slie found herself driving the boy from town to town in Wisconsin, sometimes as far as SO miles, in search of batteries, tires and electric motors.
" I tewa-s passionate about it." Straubel recalls. "He wrote to liiefnanuiacturers for informaiion. He worked on it every day, all day long, all evening long, until he got it to run." What Straubtl didn't know back then WAS that her .son, "JB" Straubel, would still be on a motor-and-hattery mission 20 years later. J B Straubel, now the chicFtechnical officer ofTesla Motors I nc, is the 2009 Design News Engineer ot the Year, largely because he's as obsessed with electric vehicles today as he was when he and his mother were crisscrossing Wisconsin in search ofgolicart parts in 1989. The difference, though, is that the 2009 version ofJB Straubel is now applying that same lire and passion to a mission that's meaningful not just to him, but also to the global auto industry and to the nation, as well. "It really feels like we're trying to change the world," says JB Straubcl (JB stands for Jeffrey Brian; he prel^ers not to punctuate it) of hi.s company's task. "There's a real David and Goliath feel to it." I f the task of changing the world is dauntng; however, that hasn't stopped Straubel and his fellow engineers at Tesla. Before rolling out the prototype Iesla Roadster in 2006, the company's engineering staff set their sites on an incredibly ambitious 250-mile, battery-only range (or the vehicle, and then came within a hair of meeting it. I he Roadster's final, EPA-verified, 244-mile range was approximately three times that ot the now infamous General Motors E V1, which hi t the streets a decade earlier. That stunning achievement not only turned heads among sLich competitors as General Motors, it.set the stage for the emergence of electric vehicles in a way that hadn't been expected yet by the automotive community. At the time, most engineers wondered aloud about the range and costs of electric vehicles (EVs). especially since no production cars had yet reached 150 miles, let alone 244. "It would have been substantially easier to make a car that was quick, handled well, and did everything else the Roadster does, but had 150 mJlesof range, ' Straubel says now. "But holding the bar at the 200-mile level was something that was critical to changing perceptions about EVs. From the earliest days, it was something we set out to do."
A Bigger Vision

COVER STORY

which he used to melt aluminum, although it was never clear why a pre-high-school-age boy needed molten aluminum. "JB was born to be an engineer," Carol Straubel says. "He was always passionate about anything that had wheels and required engineering." Not surprisingly, Straubel's college days also neatly positioned him for the world of alternate propulsion. At Stanford University's School of Engineering, he created his own academic major in energy systems engineering and earned a master's degree in it. "It was a great fit For me because it let me follow my passion," Straubel says now. "It's kind ofeerie to see how my career lias followed what I wanted to do at the time." Straubel joined lesla at theground-lloor level in 2004 after stints at Rosen Motors, which built hybrid power trains for cars, and after attempting ro start his own company aimed at creating electric airplanes. Before arriving atTcsla. he also worked with Stanford colleagues on a solar vehicle racing team and kept in touch with friends at AC Propulsion, which built an electric spons car capable of going from 0 10 60 mph in under four seconds. No matter what Straubel did, electric ptopulsion was always at the core. "1 was talking to anyone and everyone to promote the idea that EVs had turned a corner," Straubel recalls. "I told them that with new battery technology they could go much, much farther than anyone thought was possible. 1 wanted to demonstrate my ideas in a working vehicle and break a few perceptions." Through his aerospace connections, Straubel eventually met I'ayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk and described his ideas. Musk subsequently invested in Tesla Motors (which was looking for an initial round of funding) and brought the29-yearoidStrauhel on board a.s chief technology officer. "Elon had a much bigger vision for (the company)," Straubel says. "It aligned so well with what I was already doing that it was impossible not to get excited."
Reality Strikes

i-or Straubel, however, taking aim at daunting EV goals now looks morclike a matter of destiny ttian determination. Since finding the rusty, 30-year-old golf cart in an Egg Harbor, Wl, junkyard 20 years ago, Straubel appears to have been on a trajectory that would inevitably land him in the world of vehicle engineering. While still in junior high school, he built a working hover craft for a science fair. Another time, he commandeered his family leaf blower to construct a blow furnace.

For Tesla Motors; however, the transition from a loose group of Silicon Valley rebels to automobile manufacturer was not an easy one. Suddenly, the company's engineers had to worry about issues such as manufacturabllit^\ reliability, safety and cost. The idea of building a high-end, high-performance, electrically powered two-scat vehicle now looked more daunting, especially since the new engineering team had almost no experience in the auto industry. From the beginning, however, Straubel had no intention of backing off his primar)'goal, which was to build a car with enough range to change those public perceptions.
DESIGN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2009 Iwww.designnew.com] 45

COVER STORY
hide inirially achieved a range of abour 170 me.s. Worse, there was no obvious culprir to blame for the shortfall. " It's one of rhose classic problems where rhere's not a single major solution," he says. "It really takes a broad sysrems-levei viewpoint to understand all the little 'levers' you have, and to understand that you can pull 10 or 15 small levers to get a good outcome in the end." Indeed,Tesla's team pulled a riiultittideof those "levers" to reach theitgoal. Primary among rhose was improving the vehicle's aerodynamics, decreasing its rolling resistance, changing the brake calipers, adjusting tire pressure and switching from a two-speed toa singlespeed gearbox. For Straubel, the stickiest of those problems was the gearbox. Early on, the engineering team envisioned the high-performance vehicle as a two-speed, Team Effort despite the fact that an EV's torque curve Tesia CTO JB Straubel attributes the enables it to work in a single-speed conRoadster's success to a small-team, figuration. Over time, the engineering interdisciplinary approach marked by team ran in ro difficulties, the biggest one selflessness. Engineering team mem"We wanted a 250-mile range," Straubel bers, he says, had to be able to move being that the vehicle was tar less efficient recalls. "Thar was rhe number we were gun- easily from cooling to crashworthiness than they had expected. Engineers argued ning for from Day One." and from manufacturability to reliabil- whether rhe exrra gears, clutches and Led by Smiubel, rhe engineering team ity. "It's been a stellar team," he says. weight were really a benefit to ihe vehicle. began by picking a small form-facror lithium- "That's what makes it so much fun." "We sat around a table and said, 'Look, ion battery cell iike those used in consumer we'd be better off with a single speed Key contributors to the Roadster's electronics, hi all/Iesla engineers employed vehicle where we put more focus on intechnical success include: more than 6,800 of rhe cells, which measure creased torque and power oui of the mo Jim Dunlay, manager of power 18 mm in diameter by 6>mm long (slightly tor, rather than relying on this old-world electronics and battery systems larger than a AA battery), in a pack that solution of complicated gearboxes and Dorian West, manager of weighs about 450 kg (990 lb). By combining Roadster battery development moving mechanical parrs,"" Straubel rethousands of small cells, rather a few huge calls. "Tn hindsight, it was absolutely the Drew Baglino, motor control ones, the engineering team was able to maxiright thing to do." software mize heat removal because the smaller cells The engineering team also squeezxd Scott Kohn, battery pack design offered vasdy more surface area, they say. In a out a tiny bit more range by employing a Wes Hermann, battery pack design white paperon the subject, Tesla's engineerso-called a "roll-back seal caliper" in ing team explains that the surface area of the 6,800 batteries is rhe brakes. The device, which pulls the cal i per aw ay from the 27 square meters ^-about seven times more than if they had disc when the brakes are released, eliniinates residual drag used 20 large batteries. Thar means they have about seven times forces between rhe caliper and disc when rhe brakes aren't more area for heat transfer ar rhe surface of the cells. being acruared. Moreover, Straubel and otherTesIa engineers teamed up to Straubel says that the caliper and other small fixes enabled create a patented cooling system rhat mitigares the possibility Tesla to boost its range toward the 250 mark. EPA tests on a of thermal runaway a phenomenon that has been known to dynamometer by a third-part}' vendor verified thai the Roadhappen, however rarely, in laptops and other consumer elecsrer achieved a total range of 244 miles. tronic products that use lithium-ion. Tesla's cooling system "At some level, youVe always hoping to do better, ' Srraubel uses a manifold and cooling rubes ro run a 50/50 mix of warer says of the fact that their effort fell short of 250. "liur we were and glycol through the pack., drawing hear away from the bathappy to get to 244." teries. As a result, the possibilit)' of a cell sparking and setting a neighborafire is dramatically diminished. Man on a Mission "As the energydensity of these cells increases, the number Colleagues say Tesla couldn't have done it without Straubel's of packaging and cooling problems increases," Straubel says. quiet leadership. Straubel stayed rhe course on rheirgoal of "You're trying ro package a lot more energy into a much tighr- 250 miles and was flexible when the team needed him tobe, er space and suddenly cool ing becomes a big issue." they say. "When a strategy doesn't appear to be working, JB is able to Pulling the Right Levers stop on a dime and change rhe company direction," says Kurt Despite the engineers' best eforrs on the battery, however. Kelry, director ofenergy storage sysrems for Tesla. "Not only is Strube! and his ream quickly found that they were still falling he able to change his own direction, he's able ro rally everyone around him to support the new direction." far short ofcheir 250-mile goat. Even with a barteiy pack energy density approaching 200 W-hr/kg, Straubel says, rhe veMost important of all, Straubels dedication to the EV cause
46 DESIGN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2009 [www.designnews.com]

COVER STORY
seems to be the result of a strongly held set of beliefs. Keity says he has witnessed StraubePs sense of cause, even outside the confines of Tesla. "I've caught him on business trips changing light bulbs in hotels to CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps)," he says. "He has even bought a box of light bulbs and provided the box to the hotel manager and shown him how easy it is to make the change." "JB is atTesIa because he believes it's the best place to put his efforts in order to make electric vehicles happen," adds Drew Baglino, senior electrical engineer at Tesla. " He really does think that this is where he can make the most impact on a problem that the U.S. and the industrialized world have." Straubcl's efTorts to change perception of EVs are evidently working. After Tesla earned some measure of public success with its stellar EPA rating, former GM executive Bob Lutz admitted to changing his mind about electrics. "They have a real shot at success," Lutz told Newsweek magazine in December, 2007. "Their Roadster, if and when fully reliable, is an extremely attractive proposition." To be sure, the road hasn't always been smooth forTesIa, and multiple stumbling blocks still lie in its path. In November 2008, Newsweek poiiuc om that Tesla was traversing a rocky road after its first 40 Roadsters went out of the factory with drivetrains that needed to be replaced. The company has also been beset by messy firings and legal entanglements, and a few reviewers have complained that the vehicle isn't reaching its 244-mile range. (A WallStreetjournalTeviewsnid the vehicle achieved ranges of approximately 144 and 168 miles.) Moreover, price tags for early Roadsters have passed the S100.000 mark, making it a more logical choice for wealthy celebrities like George Clooney and Matt Datnon than for middle-class Americans. Still, reviewers have been generally positive. Car and Driver,
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have been enamored with the vehicle, especially its 3.9-second O-to-60 mph acceleration. It has "smooth with amazingacceleration, comfortable seats, and plent)'ofhcadand leg room," says Design News y c^c SiiiTin Koford ofC.incinnati, OH, who owns a Roadster. "No problems so fiir." Straubel, however, won't be satisfied until he can change more ofthose public perceptions about EVs. Recently, Tesla announced it will produce a seven-seat sedan called the Model S, which wi 1 1 offer a variety of ranges up to 300 miles, starting at $49,900 in 2011. By going to larger production volumes, Straubel believes he can drive the battery price down to S300/kW-hr, ultimately placing pack cost "in the ballpark" of S 18,000. That, hesays, would help cut the overall cost of the car. For now, however, Straubel plans keep pusbing the mileage envelope. Challenges like those are what keep him going, say those who know him best. "To find a place to do what he loves is amazing," says Carol Straubel. "And to have it matter to so many is that much better."

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