New generation Tesla batteries
In September 2020, Elon Musk introduced the new Tesla 4680 battery, at first, it seemed to revolutionize the world of electric vehicles. In the future, the price per kWh expects to decline by 56%, increase energy production and vehicle crash safety, simplify supply chains and improve environmental improvements.
With such a battery, Tesla can offer its new electric vehicle for just 25,000 dollars. What happened in reality? After two years, Tesla is just starting to put 4,680 batteries into its vehicles due to certain difficulties in launch production.
New generation Tesla batteries
In September 2020, Elon Musk introduced the new Tesla 4680 battery, at first, it seemed to revolutionize the world of electric vehicles. In the future, the price per kWh expects to decline by 56%, increase energy production and vehicle crash safety, simplify supply chains and improve environmental improvements.
With such a battery, Tesla can offer its new electric vehicle for just 25,000 dollars. What happened in reality? After two years, Tesla is just starting to put 4,680 batteries into its vehicles due to certain difficulties in launch production.
How new batteries are better than predecessors
How did Tesla plan to achieve such an impressive performance with 4,680 batteries? It was in many ways due to some unique and revolutionary solutions. For example, their larger form factor allows each battery to use far fewer individual cells because each cell has a large capacity.
That, in turn, significantly reduces the cost of manufacturing and assembling a battery. The elements are not in a bolted package like any other electric vehicle they are effectively installed in a polymer box to increase these cost savings.
That allows the use of the battery pack as a structural element of the vehicle, increasing the chassis strength, improving the car's handling, and improving safety.
Constructional change
The battery has also undergone some significant internal changes. Instead of a graphite anode, the 4680 version uses a silicon analog, which can store many more lithium ions than graphite, and gives them less «resistance».
That makes the new batteries much more energy-intensive and capable of charging and discharging at higher speeds, which means shorter charging times and greater power availability.
Instead of the typical cathode, NMC 811 (80% nickel, 10% manganese, and 10% cobalt) (positive end of the battery) started using a cobalt-free cathode with high manganese and low nickel content. Since cobalt mining has high environmental and human costs, and nickel prices may fluctuate significantly, it means that the 4680 series has become much more eco-friendly, with constant and low production costs.
Modern realities
Tesla has already produced more than a million 4680 batteries, with only the American versions of such models as:
● Model Y;● Model 3.
At the same time, the company is struggling to increase the production of 4680, as its plans include the complete transition of all models of cars to new battery units. That is still a long way off, but at least Tesla is on the right track to having the best battery for electric vehicles among competitors in the world market.