July 16, 2024 – Despite Elon Musk’s initial claims about the potential of the 4680 battery, the technology has faced challenges in meeting performance and production targets in 2023. This has led to the postponement of Tesla’s planned “$25,000 electric vehicle,” which has been repeatedly delayed and was shelved in February of this year.
According to The Information, citing three informed sources, Musk has lost patience and issued a new “order” to the 4680 battery research and development team in May, instructing them to resolve the technical issues that cause the batteries to crash during use and to further reduce costs by the end of this year.
However, there has been significant progress in the production capacity of Tesla’s 4680 batteries. The company has expanded its production lines, adding two more assembly lines to the existing one production line and one assembly line. Additionally, Tesla is conducting tests to improve the yield and performance of the 4680 batteries.
Karn Budhiraj, Vice President of Tesla’s Supply Chain, stated, “We have one production line that is currently being debugged, and four more lines will be installed in the third quarter of this year. Therefore, there is no doubt that this is a significant year for the mass production of 4680 batteries.”
The 4680 battery, announced by Tesla during its 2020 Battery Day event, is a cylindrical battery with a diameter of 46 millimeters and a height of 80 millimeters. Compared to the previous 2170 battery, the 4680 battery offers a five-fold increase in energy density, a six-fold increase in power output, and a six-fold improvement in electrical power compared to tabbed batteries.
During the 2021 Battery Day, Tesla also announced a new manufacturing technique called Dry Battery Electrode (DBE), which significantly improves battery performance through the use of a new silicon anode. However, the 4680 batteries currently produced by Tesla still use chemical compositions similar to the 2170 NMC batteries and do not utilize silicon anodes or DBE technology.
Tesla has announced that its Austin Superfactory has produced 50 million 4680 batteries. Over the past year, Tesla’s production of 4680 batteries has increased significantly, with a cumulative output of 40 million batteries, equivalent to an average of nearly 1 million batteries per week.
