Tesla is experiencing problems with its large-format 4680 battery cells, and CEO Elon Musk has set a deadline for fixing them, according to a new report.
Anonymous sources familiar with the matter told The Information (via InsideEVs) that in May Musk demanded that the team responsible for the cells address issues preventing production from being scaled up before the end of the year, or else the project will be abandoned.
Future Tesla cell will make energy, power gains
Specifically, engineers must solve a problem that can cause the cells—which are longer and wider than Tesla’s previous 2170 cells while retaining a cylindrical form factor—to collapse in on themselves while in use, according to the report.
Announced in 2020, the 4680 cells have been championed by Musk as the key to unlocking cheaper electric cars, as well as more power-intensive applications like the Tesla Semi and Cybertruck. But while Tesla reached a cumulative million 4680 cells made at its pilot facility in 2022, it’s now reportedly only producing enough cells for around 1,000 Cybertrucks every week. That will require a big leap to supplying Model 3 and Model Y production, which is the automaker’s interim goal.
Cross-section of future Tesla cell
Battery supplier Panasonic has cautioned multiple times that technical problems with the larger cells could hinder mass production, saying in 2021 that making them “requires new techniques.” And while multiple battery suppliers have shown interest in these large-format cells, none has been able to scale them up faster than Tesla and Panasonic.
CATL is going a different route entirely with its cell-to-pack tech, which directly integrates cells into a battery pack without the modules used in most current pack designs. In 2022 the company claimed a then-current iteration of the tech could deliver 13% more power than Tesla’s 4680-format cells given the same volume. But cell-to-pack has also been slow to commercialize, in the U.S. market, at least.
