US car maker Tesla said it will be investing $3.6 billion in its Gigafactory Nevada facility. It will include two new factories and 3,000 new jobs.
One will be a 100GWh 4680 cell factory – with capacity to produce enough batteries for 1.5 million light duty vehicles a year, it said. The other will be its first high-volume Semi factory. That makes a fully electric combination truck, with 500-mile range and less than 2KWh per mile energy consumption.
Armen Hareyan of Torque News said this news is “great for Tesla as it shows that the mass production of the 4680 cells has been solved”. Tesla’s 4680 cells could eventually reach 500GWh in long-term production, but Musk is aiming to produce over 1,000GWh in the future, he said.
“This is a huge step forward for Tesla and the automotive industry, and it will be interesting to see how long it takes the rest of the industry to catch up.”
Musk reportedly told company employees: “We expect the new cell factory to produce at least 100GWh. And that’s really just to begin with. Long-term, Tesla is aiming to produce well over 1,000GWh, possibly 2,000 or 3,000. So this really is just the start. And that’s equivalent to 1.5 million additional Model 3/Y vehicles, and we’ll also be using 4680 for stationary storage as well.”
Energy density in the NCA cells is five times higher than the previous 2170 NMC cells, according to Hareyan. The 4680 cell allows Tesla to decrease the cost of production, which may lead to cheaper electric vehicles. “This is a game changer for the industry as a whole in my opinion,” he said.
“It means that Tesla will be able to produce cars that are more efficient and have longer range but more affordable for the average consumer,” he said.
Simon Alvarez of the Teslerati blog said products such as the Megapack are expected to utilise LFP batteries, which are different from the NCM 811 cathode chemistry used in Tesla’s current generation 4680 cells.
“Considering Musk’s confirmation that 4680 cells would be used for Tesla’s stationary storage in the future, then it would seem that the EV maker would also be producing 4680 cells with different chemistries,” he said.
Tesla said that since 2014 it has invested $6.2 billion in Nevada and its 502,000 square metre (5.4 million square foot) Gigafactory.
• LG Energy Solution said it is in “active discussions” with Tesla and EV start-ups to supply batteries from its proposed Arizona factory in the US. No further details were given during a conference call, reported Reuters. LG Energy Solution currently supplies batteries to Tesla in China. It said it is reviewing investments in building the new battery factory in Arizona.
