IT HAPPENED! Elon Musk FINALLY Reveals New 4680 Battery!

When Tesla released its groundbreaking Roaster, it was the first time an automobile
company used a Lithium-ion battery in a production electric vehicle. While the company
has made many improvements to its battery in subsequent models, it wanted something
more and embarked on the radical 4680 battery. Now that Tesla's INSANE new 4680
battery is finally here, what makes it beat other batteries hands down?
Join us as we explore Tesla's insane new 4680 battery!
The battery is one of the most crucial components in an electric vehicle. Without it, the
car is not moving an inch! Apart from providing the energy to move the tires, the battery
basically determines the price in the budget to mid-range priced electric vehicles. It also
determines the car's weight, as it could be up to one-third of the curb weight!
Also importantly, if the battery is not well made, it could be a potential fire risk and
trigger massive recalls after buyers have started, as it has put GM in an unenviable
position with its Bolt EVs.
But more importantly, the battery determines how far you can drive before you need to
stop for a charge. With charging infrastructure still in its infancy in most places, the
battery could make or break an electric vehicle!
This is why Tesla pays so much attention to its batteries. It has some of the most
extended ranges in cars in the industry. For example, the Model S Long Range has a
range of 405 miles, as certified by the EPA!
While having Superchargers all over the place can help reduce or alleviate range
anxiety, Tesla chose to tackle the battery itself and made astounding all-around
improvements. And that was how the insane new 4680 battery was born!
Tesla spends a lot of money and human resources on its battery, which shows in the
new battery!
The automotive world went into a frenzy on Tesla's Battery Day in 2021 when Musk
took to the stage to take the wraps off the new 4680 battery. The list of improvements
was as long as an arm.
Part of Tesla's roadmap is sustaining a 40 to 50 percent growth year on year, with calls
for a rapidly rising supply of batteries. With the 4680 battery, Tesla has plugged any
deficit in what its battery suppliers can bring and its increasing battery needs. This will
allow Tesla to maintain its leading position in the electric automobile world.
Interestingly, Tesla did not begin the design of the battery from the chemistry itself.
Instead, in a reflection of Musk's obsession with first principle thinking, the team looked
at the lowest common denominator, which in this case was the simplest truth anchoring
the battery to the mineral it was comprised of. After this had been defined and refined
repeatedly, the team was able to build an optimized design!
Tesla's journey to designing the 4680 battery included snapping up battery pioneers
from Maxwell Technologies and Hibar Systems. Its experience building its first battery
plant in Nevada also helped because it acquired manufacturing equipment experts at
Grohmann Automation.
As the most vertically integrated auto company globally, Tesla's aim from the get-go
was to eliminate inefficiencies and improve the sustainability of the process it would use
to make the batteries. This motivation influenced many aspects of the battery.
For example, the 4680 uses an architecture that eliminates tabs from the design, which
is why the new battery is also called Tabless. This single step has several significant
impacts on the production of the battery. For one, the battery production line does not
have to pause to add the tabs, which means manufacturing takes place faster!
Eliminating the tab also removes a potential source of a manufacturing defect as there
is no need to weld any components together. So Tesla's plant will churn out the 4680
battery cells at a fast clip without worrying about a defect!
Tesla's project Roadrunner established a pilot line for the new battery at its Kato Road
facility in Fremont, California, where it worked out the kinks in the production lines.
Compared to other batteries, the cylindrical 4680 cell is a jumbo pack, with a diameter
of 46 mm and a height of 80 mm, which is where the name derived from. This larger
jelly roll packs more active battery materials into the case. Tesla reckons this increase
in active content alone results in five times improvement in energy storage and six times
increase in power!
When the new cells are packed into an existing 2170 battery pack, it netted a 16
percent increase in range! Remember the tab Tesla eliminated? That step has another
amazing effect as it makes it easier and faster for electrons to move from place to place
inside the cell!
Digging into the chemistry of the 4680 battery, Tesla also made some changes in the
components. Tesla found a way to increase the amount of silicon in the battery by
starting with the raw silicon, which cut the cost by 5 percent and increased the range by
20 percent!