Tesla uses 1-3 Battery Cell Formats

Tesla uses 1-3 battery cell formats.

From the beginning, the company has only used small cylindrical cells-first 1865 (18650) Original Roadster, Model S / Model X, and larger 2170 Model 3 / Model Y format.

The third form factor to come is the much larger cylindrical cell- 4680,that is At the advanced stage of development.

It’s very interesting that the company doesn’t switch to the new one “Better” Although it is in cell format, the previous model will continue to use the existing format, but simply in the new product. The updated Model S and Model X are still using 1865.

According to the revenue call report (via Tesla Lati) Tesla is working on a new 4680 cell with an existing supplier.

“Eron has confirmed that Tesla is working with existing suppliers to produce 4680 cells for vehicles, and Tesla’s iron-based vehicles are part of the company’s more enthusiastic bulls. As predicted, it will not use 4680 cylindrical cells, which is ideal for performing 1-3 cell formats, especially given the huge backlog of demand for the company’s product lineup. “

For comparison, the Volkswagen Group has announced that it will be used in the future. Single Scalable System Platform (SSP) and Integrated Cell Concept-One Battery Cell Format for Almost All Cars.

According to Elon Musk, the company plans to achieve annual production of 100 GWh of the new 4680 battery cell format by the end of next year.

Elon Musk

Eron states that Tesla has a large amount of equipment that will come for mass production of 4680 cells.

“Probably by the end of next year, it will reach an annual rate of 100 GWh.“

Assuming that it will reach December 2022, the company will need to produce more than 8.3GWh of cells in a month. This is very ambitious, especially given that no one has produced such cells in large quantities.

“We definitely make the 4680 reliable enough for our vehicles. There are many challenges in moving from small to large production,” Musk said. Tested for 1 million miles of * equivalent *. “

Elon Musk suggests that the availability of Tesla cells in 2022 has also increased significantly. There will be twice as many cells as in 2021.

Another interesting thing is that Tesla is slowly moving away from the cobalt in the battery. Panasonic’s NCA type and LG Energy Solutions’ NMC type already have a limited amount of cobalt, but CATL’s LFP does not contain any cobalt.

Tesla will increase the use of LFP cathode chemistry in automobiles in the future, and energy storage systems (Powerwalls and Megapacks) are likely to use only LFP.

Most interesting is the production plan for the Tesla Model Y at the Giga Berlin plant. The car will be equipped with front and rear castings and a structural battery pack. However, if the availability of 4680 cells is limited, the company has a backup plan to use 2170 cells.

“Berlin Model Y has a cast rear body and a cast front body. We use a structural pack,” says Musk. The CEO said Tesla has a backup plan for unstructured packs and 2170 cells, but 4680 cells will definitely be used for scale production. “

Tesla uses 1-3 battery cell formats, July 30, 2021