Composite overwrapped pressure vessel

But where do they put 600 liters of highly compressed air in a tiny low to the ground sports car?

They use COPVs, carbon fiber overwrapped pressure vessels, which are, quote, "packed into every usable void in the car".

And this is the crucial point, right? COPVs are pure SpaceX technology.

Pure SpaceX.

They are the exact vessels SpaceX uses to hold pressure and gases in the Falcon 9 and Starship rockets.

Exactly.

And then there is the product liability side of things.

Let's talk about those COPVs packed into every usable void.

SpaceX has used thrusters to position spacecraft for decades, making them work in a vehicle instead of a vacuum of space, took all new hardware and controls.

Every usable void in the car is packed with carbon fiber overwrapped pressure vessels, or COPVs, those are the air tanks.

More compressed gas on board equals more flight time.

And then Tesla says, every car on the road today is limited by one thing, tire grip.

But Lars said in a video, they have a new goal of a top speed of over 330 miles per hour in the works.

The rocket version does go down to a one-seater, and that's because in the passenger seat there would be another 400 liter flight system COPV, and that just stands for Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, making for 600 liters total.

It's the tech SpaceX is using to power these cold gas thrusters.

The rocket version also gets an additional six thrusters, one at each corner and then two in the front for yaw control.

These CGTs use nitrogen, since about 80% of air is nitrogen.

And now it's true, because this COPV can be thought of like a balloon, once you let out a certain portion of that compressed air, a lot of the power is gone.

Which is why in practice, you're only going to get a few seconds of use.

So as I said before the event, this is going to serve as an incredible halo product for Tesla.

I've been in this industry long enough to smell a vaporware demo from three zip codes away, and this one is different.

The engineering is real, the physics are documented, and the SpaceX-derived COPVs, carbon fiber overwrapped pressure vessels, are hardware you can touch.

Ten nozzles, 600 liters of compressed air, 250 kilograms of it pushing this thing off the ground.

When your car borrows its guts from the same pressure vessel tech that feeds rocket engines, you've officially crossed a line that most automotive engineers thought was theoretical.

I mean, I, I wish I had a number, but, um, we've got, um, you know, multiple very complex, um, friction stir welding machines, um, and we have a lot of capabilities beyond that.

So, um, it's, uh, it's really exciting and we're, we're moving, you know, beyond our, our bread and butter, which has been our, um, COPV world, our- Um, composite overwrapped pressure vessels.

And how I describe that to, you know, someone who's unfamiliar to the aerospace world is it's just like your propane tank at home that you use for your grill, um, except they're much lighter and they're much bigger typically.

Some of them are small.

Axial fans move air at roughly 0.5 psi delta.

Pressurizing a COPV requires 5000 psi and a heavy multistage compressor.

Electric fans draw from the car's 100 kWh battery and deliver 500 kg of repeatable downforce at every apex.

Active suction therefore represents one of the highest return on investment weight additions possible on a vehicle.