According to the chief technology officer, 4,680 production at Tesla is advancing – and no longer significant for 2022

Tesla has now almost traditionally been successful in answering questions previously submitted by private and professional investors via the web platform in conference calls after publishing its quarterly numbers. One of the things that intrigued her most in the second quarter of this year was the progress of battery production in the Format 4680 battery pack, which began in the summer of 2020 at a pilot plant in Fremont. On Wednesday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his senior vice president for technology gave a tip: Big developments are underway — and the surging demand for the rest of 2022 is covered, too, without any of your own batteries.

It’s clear that Tesla missed the target of the battery

The first goal of your production, Which Tesla named on its battery day in September 2020, 10 gigawatt-hours of annual capacity of the pilot plant in Fremont by the end of 2021. By the end of 2022, it should be 100 gigawatt-hours in several locations, including the new gigawatt plants in Germany and Texas, as it later became apparent. Apparently, Tesla often failed to achieve the first goal, and even that by the end of this year is unlikely to be achievable. Battery construction at the German Gigafactory has not yet been completed.

In Germany, Musk had already announced before the official opening of the domestic plant in March that the Model Y would not exist, contrary to what was initially planned. Produced with a battery carrying from their own 4680 . batteries Become. On the other hand, the new Gigafactory in Texas started two weeks after using the Model Y with a 4680 battery. However, at first only a few copies were delivered to external customers, which spoke of insufficient battery availability. Deliveries from Texas were only picked up in June – but in the meantime, Tesla has temporarily switched to conventional construction there too, as in Grünheide (the photo above from the German factory shows both compared to the 4680 package in the foreground)

In this regard, it’s no wonder shareholders submitted 4,680 questions on the occasion of Wednesday’s second-quarter conference. First, Musk should explain exactly what he meant when he tweeted this recently The structural battery pack is not optimized from its own batteries. The Tesla chief explained that the architecture with the battery as part of the car’s supporting frame is fundamentally superior. In their current form, they do so better than electric cars with batteries as pure additional weight. However, there is still a lot to be done, not just on the battery pack itself, but also on its integration with the rest of the frame.

Musk and his technical director Pagliano made similar comments about the batteries themselves and production. I got in the second quarter Tesla developed an important process for dry coating of electrodes Fully automated, Baglino reported. This has allowed Fremont’s increased production and yield – since March, a 35 percent increase in volume each month. The pilot plant there is now supposed to reach “1,000 per week” before the end of 2022. SVP didn’t mention a unit for this, but should have meant enough 4,680 batteries for 1,000 Model Y, which is about 3-4 GWh per year depending on battery size. According to Baglino, battery systems at the Gigafactory in Texas are now fully installed and operational. Production of 4,680 is expected there this quarter and capacity will be higher than Fremont before the end of the year.

4,680 production so far unimportant, according to Musk

But like the package, the 4,680 individual batteries are only the first release, Pagliano said roughly when researching potential hidden capabilities in the Model Y with 4680 battery from Texas asked. The focus was on simplicity and scale, which is why Tesla has yet to exhaust all coordination possibilities, he explains. The CEO, Musk, added that dozens of small issues will hinder this escalation. We are confident that we can solve it, even if it is difficult with a concept as “revolutionary” as this one. First, Tesla wants to take control of the base, achieve high volume and reliability, and then quickly develop its own cell to increase energy density and reduce costs.

Tesla also planned a lot of batteries. But perhaps to reassure shareholders, Musk emphasized in his introduction to Wednesday’s conference that the company has — and should — provide enough batteries for all auto production for the rest of this year. Set new records for Tesla in the remaining months. The Tesla chief said 4,680 will be important next year, but not yet in 2022.