Tesla 4680 battery in big trouble, Nobel laureate cries foul

At that time, the blogger released a file image showing that 14 machines were running that day, and the 4680 cells had a combined yield of 92 percent. One of the machines was used to train employees at the Texas plant, so the defective rate of the cells produced was 82%.

Production data also shows that the plant produced only about 6,250 cells that day. A Model Y requires about 830 cells, which means that the factory could only produce about 7 Model Ys at that time.

In the August Tesla shareholders meeting, Musk still announced that by the end of 2022 will be mass production of 4680 batteries. But from the analysis of experts, it is clear that this goal is difficult to achieve.

4680 version of the Model Y range no surprise, mainly to reduce the cost

In April, according to Drive Tesla Canada, Tesla sent an email to its employees, which showed that the starting price of the standard range version of the Model Y produced in Texas was $59,999,000 (about 381,000 yuan).

It is important to note that the Model Y produced in the Texas factory mentioned in the email is the first model to be equipped with the 4680 battery by Tesla. The information reveals that the new car is a dual-motor version with an EPA range of 279 miles (about 449 km), an acceleration time of 5.0 seconds from 0 to 60 mph (about 96.5 km/h) and a top speed of 217 km / h.

A YouTube blogger named Spoken Reviews also bought a 4680 version of the Model Y and reviewed it.

After testing, the blogger speculated that the Texas-built all-wheel drive version of the Model Y could reach 230 miles (about 370 km) on a full charge at an average speed of 75 mph (about 121 km/h).

A comparison of the key parameters of the Tesla Model Y in China, the U.S. and Europe shows that the 4680 Model Y has no significant range or acceleration highlights, and is not significantly different from the conventional 2170 battery.

Tesla officially explained that the performance of the Model Y all-wheel drive version declined after the 4680 battery in order to allow more people to drive the Tesla Model Y. However, netizens did not buy it, believing that Tesla was trying not to affect the sales of other versions of the Model Y, while also trying to reduce costs, both to look good and to look good.

4680 battery released in 2020, looks great

Interestingly, at the Tesla Battery Day event in September 2020, Musk was confident that the 4680 battery was scheduled for mass production this year.

At the time, Musk said the 4680 cell had 5x more energy per cell and 6x more power output. Combined with CTC (direct cell-in-chassis) technology, the new cells can increase the overall range of electric vehicles by 54%.

According to this figure, this means that the NEDC range of the long-range version of the Model 3 will increase from 668 km to more than 1000 km.

To achieve this goal, Tesla has revolutionized both the structure and materials of the battery cells - adopting a larger shape (46mm in diameter and 80mm in height), eliminating the internal lugs, replacing the carbon-based negative electrode with a silicon-based material, and further reducing the cobalt content of the positive electrode.

Tesla wants to do more than just improve the performance of the battery. These structural improvements, optimized materials and assembly processes also reduce the cost of the battery.

Together with optimizing the mineral mining and refining process, improving the cell manufacturing process with automated equipment, and developing battery recycling technology, Tesla has also reduced the cost of electricity (i.e., the price per kilowatt-hour) for batteries by 56%.