Tesla has first announced its 4680 battery cell technology in September 2020 and it has been working on the development of a production model. In January this year, the automaker produced one-millionth 4680 battery cells. This is a remarkable milestone, yet there is a lot more for the company to go on with.
Getting there would not be easy. Tesla formally announced its 4680 battery project in September 2020, and since then, the company has been working hard to ramp the production of the next-generation cell. Tesla produced its one-millionth 4680 cells in January. That’s a milestone on its own, but it does show that the company still has a long way to go before it can fully ramp its new battery.
Industry researcher Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates that one million 4680 cells are enough for just about 1,200 Model Ys. Tesla intends to produce far more than that per week in Gigafactory Texas alone. Tesla’s 4680 cells are not designed like conventional batteries, and they are not made like traditional cells either. Tesla plans to use a new manufacturing technology called dry electrode coating, which was obtained from the company’s acquisition of Maxwell Technologies in 2019. Dry electrode manufacturing would allow Tesla to skip a conventional step in traditional battery production, which should lower costs significantly.
Rumors
With Tesla changing plans for its German factory as supermodels change clothes in a fashion show, the original idea of doing that in Europe also had to change: Tesla learned it would not have subsidies for a battery plant in Grünheide. On top of that, 4680 cell development was more difficult than the company predicted. With the EV maker’s communication skills and controversial strategies, we’re not sure it was even completed.
Rumor has it that Tesla will sell the Model Y made in Texas with those cells. A while ago, the company celebrated producing one million units of these batteries, which would allow Tesla to produce a little more than 1,000 Model Ys. In other words, that’s far from enough for producing the electric crossover in regular numbers. If Tesla really decides to deliver the first Model Y units made in Texas with the 4680 batteries, it might produce very different cars for the same market, even if they have the same names and appearance.
However, experts continue to believe in the technology. Shirley Meng, a University of Chicago professor who previously worked with Maxwell, noted that Tesla’s 4680 battery efforts could change the industry. She also emphasized that Tesla’s challenges in mass-producing the next-generation battery would be immense. “He (Elon Musk) is changing the way how battery manufacturing is done. It’s really, really difficult to manufacture at a speed and at scale,” she said. She also stated that Tesla may have to experience a “Death Valley” start to scale up the dry electrode process for 4680 cells.
