At 4:30 on September 23, Beijing time, marketing genius Musk held a Tesla Battery Day event at the Fremont factory in California, showcasing Tesla’s latest achievements in the field of battery technology. progress. The specific progress is briefly summarized as follows:
Three-year period
Achieving the cheapest Tesla
“I want more people to be able to afford electric cars. Musk revealed that Tesla will launch a new model worth $25,000 (approximately 170,000 yuan) in the next three years. Although the new car has not yet been named, it is clear that the battery it is equipped with will be produced at the Berlin factory. "Traditional cars will no longer exist in the future," Musk further added, "To say this is too absolute. It should be said that there will still be some room for traditional fuel vehicles in the future, but the sense of existence will not be too strong."
There is no doubt that the development direction of automobile electrification has become the common sense of the global automobile industry. However, limited by mileage and cost, it is still difficult for pure electric vehicles to quickly achieve full market penetration. To solve this pain point, Musk boldly proposed a plan to halve the cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) at Tesla Battery Day today, but at the same time ensure higher power and longer battery life.
Battery cell technology has been upgraded from 2170 to 4680
The latest battery cell technology is the answer to the problem of cost reduction. The name 4680 comes from its size: 46 mm in diameter and 80 mm in height. It uses poleless technology, which ultimately reduces the cost per kilowatt hour by 14%. It is understood that in this patent, at least one of the positive and negative electrodes does not have the traditional raised tab structure. A conductive coating is added to the edge of the positive or negative electrode piece, so that the conductive coating directly contacts the battery end cover. , the current reaches the battery external circuit through the conductive coating and battery casing.
In this way, Tesla can eliminate the welding process of tabs in the battery production process, which not only improves efficiency, but also reduces the higher defective rate caused by welding. At the same time, this design can significantly reduce the amount of heat generated, solve the heat dissipation problem of high-energy-density batteries, and increase the peak charge and discharge power.
According to the information given at the press conference, compared with the Panasonic 2170 battery currently used in Model 3 and Model Y, the energy of 4680 will be 5 times higher and the power will also be higher. By as much as 6 times, the mileage will be increased by 16.
The latest Model S is unveiled
This is the highest specification performance version of its luxury sedan. Specific performance specifications can be found on the official website. Model S is powered by three electric motors, making it a four-wheel drive vehicle. It will accelerate from 100 kilometers to 100 kilometers in 2 seconds, making it the fastest production car in history. Musk also said that the quarter mile will only take 9 seconds. And its range will be more than 520 miles.
If these data are true, then Tesla Model S is much better than Lucid Air. Pricing starts at $139,990, which is comparable to the travel version of the Lucid Air, which costs $990 less than the Model S.
Uncle Che’s summary
In fact, Uncle Che summed up the Battery Day on September 22 in two words: cost reduction. The battery cell technology solution will be upgraded from 2170 to 4680, using a tabless design, which will bring about a 14% cost reduction; the investment in improving production line efficiency will decrease, including the increase in dry electrode process and assembly composition efficiency, contributing to a 18% cost reduction; negative electrode Material improvement, the introduction of innovative silicon materials, contributed to a 5% cost reduction; cathode material improvements, including nickel-manganese materials (reducing cobalt content), simplification of the cathode processing process, simplification of the resource extraction process, and improvement of the recycling process, contributed to a 12% cost reduction. ; Body process optimization and battery packaging optimization, similar to CTP and CTC ideas, contribute 7% to cost reduction. Finally, a cost reduction of 56% was achieved.
Many foreign media commented that Musk’s approach was too radical. On the contrary, domestic media believed that this Battery Day had nothing new. So how will Tesla implement it in the end? We'll see.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.