This Could Launch Tesla Into The Stratosphere
Brace yourselves — the 4680 may soon reach its final form.
So far, Tesla’s “revolutionary” 4680 battery has been a bit of a letdown. Sure, its larger form factor and glued structural pack design make it one of the cheapest lithium-ion cells on the market. But this means that others like BYD and CATL have easily been able to emulate this concept and catch right back up. You see, the insane specifications, bleeding-edge technology, and insanely low prices Musk promised the 4680 would usher in are yet to be seen and appear to be miles away. However, over the past few months, things have started to develop, and it now looks like we could soon see a genuinely industry-breaking battery from Tesla! So what’s changed?
Let’s first look at what Musk promised the 4680 would offer. During Tesla’s Battery Day, Musk and his team stated the 4680 would use a larger form factor, a tabless design, a high-nickel, zero-cobalt cathode, a pure silicon anode, and a dry coating. The larger form factor and dry coating would make the 4680 insanely cheap, at 56% less than Tesla’s 21700 cells, or around $60 per kWh. For some perspective, the industry average has moved between $132 per kWh and $151 per kWh. The tabless design, silicon anode, and high nickel content would give the 4680 a very high energy density of nearly 300 Wh/kg…
