Tesla confirms 4,680 battery cell production now enough for 1,000 cars a week
Tesla has confirmed that the production of 4,680 battery cells has now reached a level that can support the production of over 1,000 cars a week.
The 4680 battery cell is a new format that Tesla unveiled back in 2020 as the automaker’s first cell developed from the ground up.
Previously, Tesla had been involved in cell development, but it was mainly about tweaking the chemistry of existing 18650 and 2170 cell formats.
Now Tesla planned to develop a separate cell with a much larger format made possible by a tableless design. Tesla also planned to manufacture the cells itself through partnerships with existing cell manufacturers.
It was more than two years ago, and we haven’t gotten a clear look at the progress in Tesla’s own 4680 battery cell production.
Tesla has adhered closely to the production data for battery cells.
The last official data point Tesla released was the first 1 million cells completed at the pilot plant in Fremont, and that was back in February 2022.
Since then, Tesla has only released a few statements about percentage increases in the production rate without confirming the actual production rate.
Today, Tesla confirmed the actual production rate for the first time – stating that the team produced 868,000 4,680 battery cells over the past week:
That’s enough to produce over 1,000 Model Y vehicles. The cells are used to produce a type of Model Y vehicle with a structural battery pack at the Gigafactory Texas.
In addition to the pilot plant in Fremont, the automaker is also establishing higher volume production at the Texas plant for a shorter supply chain.
Electrek’s Take
While Tesla’s battery supply constraints have eased over the past year thanks to suppliers ramping up production, much of the automaker’s growth in 2023 is expected to be tied to its capacity to ramp up production of 4,680 cells.
Therefore, this milestone is good to hit just before the new year.
Tesla seemed to have a lot of trouble hitting volume production with the 4680 cells, but these numbers could mean Tesla worked through some of the bigger bottlenecks and now we could possibly see a smoother ramp from here.
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