Tesla’s new in-house batteries are finally on track, and can now supply 1,000 units of Model Y in the most recent week. It has been more than two years since they first announced the concept of this battery.
Tesla’s 4680 battery, the company’s first in-house battery cell, has a diameter of 46mm and a height of 80mm. It is being considered as a potential replacement for the existing 2170 battery cell.
Giga Texas produced 868K units of 4680 battery cells over the past week, which are enough for 1000 units of Model Y, and marked a major milestone for the particular factory at last.
It was February this year when Tesla last officially announced any news regarding 4680, when the Fremont Factory had completed the one millionth 4680 battery cell, and the company had not updated its news on batteries ever since.
Model Y that is only produced at Giga Texas right now, is adopted with the 4680 battery and a structured battery pack. According to what Tesla said previously, a single 4680 battery can provide five times the energy and increase 16% of durability, though it is larger in size, but it remains advantageous in cost compared to the existing 2170 battery.
The innovation of the 4680 battery lies on the production process that has altered the production procedures of traditional batteries by lowering water usage, degree of pollution, and production time. Tesla, once it is able to mass produce the 4680 battery on an extensive scale, will further bring down the cost of battery, and is no longer confined by battery suppliers then.
The production of this battery has evidently encountered numerous difficulties over the past year, where the three major suppliers that initially promised to fight for outsourcing opportunities had announced no further news after completing the prototype, while Tesla’s in-house battery plant has only started to ramp up in capacity now.
Models that are expected to adopt the 4680 battery include Model S Plaid, Tesla Semi, and Cybertruck, where the former two have decided to adopt old batteries due to pressure coming from delivery, while the latter’s capacity will depend on the provision of 4680 batteries as the model now has more than 1.5 million pre orders.
(Cover photo source: Tesla)