- Elon Musk announced a revolutionary battery design that measured no larger than a soda can.
- Musk revealed he was in discussions with the company’s existing supplier, Panasonic, to source the battery but the long production cycle was putting him off.
- The electronic company’s latest financial results reveal that the developers may have broken some ground on the technology as it states the 4680 could go into production by the end of this financial year.
Just under a year ago at Teslas “Battery Day,” Elon Musk announced a revolutionary battery design that measured no larger than a soda can. As they discussed it with their current producer Panasonic and as the company does their advanced research in it and continue to its production, reports Car Buzz.
Announcing the revolutionary battery and discussions with the suppliers
Just under a year ago at Teslas “Battery Day,” Elon Musk announced a revolutionary battery design that measured no larger than a soda can.
He called it the 4680 battery and said it could soon be used in products such as the Tesla Model 3 with the benefit of improving interior space and lowering the overall cost, thus making it more affordable to the public.
Musk revealed he was in discussions with the company’s existing supplier, Panasonic, to source the battery but the long production cycle was putting him off. This prompted him to seek other developers but to no avail.
Panasonic responded by saying it was taking its time with the design because it wanted the final product to be as safe as possible when applied to a production car.
The electronic company’s latest financial results reveal that the developers may have broken some ground on the technology as it states the 4680 could go into production by the end of this financial year.
A memo in the report details that part of its mid-term capital allocation for the year will be put towards a new production line installation at its North American battery factory which will focus on a prototype for the 4680.
Plans to advance the research and produce the battery
On the next page of the report, it is revealed Panasonic also has plans to advance the research and development as well as install equipment for the prototype at its Wakayama, Japan factory. Manufacturing trials are expected to commence in the next few weeks. Together with this, the smaller 1865 cells will see an expansion of production.
Despite Tesla’s impatience, Panasonic has confirmed that it would be producing these batteries for the EV manufacturer.
The 4680 battery is named after its dimensions of a 46 mm (1.8-inch) diameter and 80 mm (3.1-inch) height. This volume gives it the ability to hold five times more energy than the aforementioned 1865 and 2170 cells that it currently produces for Tesla.
Tesla has already confirmed that it will be making its own 4680 cells but, according to Panasonic CFO Hirokazu Umeda during the financial report presentation, the electronics company has received a request for its product. Umeda-san stated that it would give Tesla first priority once the verifications of the production-ready cell are complete.
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Source: Car Buzz
