It's crunch time at Tesla Inc, where Elon Musk is looking to crack the code for making better, cheaper batteries.
The automaker aims to augment its own output with 4680 cells from Korea's LG Energy Solution and Japan's Panasonic - an insurance policy to secure future EV production, two of the sources said. LG and Panasonic are expected to supply cells for Cybertruck, one of the sources said.The new battery is expected to play a key role in the launch late this year of the edgy, stainless-steel Cybertruck, the company's first new model in more than three years.
In 2022, Musk said he did not expect 4680 batteries would be a "limiting factor for Cybertruck or anything else." "While execution risk remains and many details are unknown, Tesla's impact on the global battery industry may still be underestimated," Morgan Stanley said after investor day. Shoichiro Watanabe, chief technology officer of Panasonic Energy, last month said the company's new Kansas battery plant will focus initially on 2170 cells, but it will eventually shift 4680 production to North America.
The automaker so far has been able to dry-coat the anode - the negative electrode - but is still having issues with dry-coating the cathode, where the most significant gains are expected to be made, the sources said.