Tesla took a first look at its new tabless battery cell, nicknamed the 4680, and the Roadrunner production line, which, according to CEO Elon Musk, “will produce large cars in the same way cars are made.”
The tabless battery was first unveiled in September during the company’s Battery Day, but was presented only by Musk in a PowerPoint presentation.
Now it’s time for Musk to show the world what Tesla was working on at its pilot battery plant in Fremont, Texas.
The one-minute clip shows the white and blue battery moving through various assembly stages with the help of armed robots and wheels.
Tesla also took the opportunity to announce that it is taking over job applications at planned battery facilities in Berlin and Texas.
Scroll down for videos
Tesla took a first look at its new tabless battery cell, nicknamed the 4680, and the Roadrunner production line
The tabless cell was unveiled in September 2020 on Telsa’s Battery Day, which was considered a malfunction after Musk promised to cut electricity costs so drastically that a $ 25,000 autopilot electric car would be possible – but revealed that it will not happen for at least three years.
At the event, Musk also said that the 4680 was produced in small volumes at a “pilot factory” in Fremont, Texas, but the video suggests that the factory is expanding and the company is looking for jobs.
According to the post, Tesla is trying to engage in engineering, manufacturing, materials, equipment and operations.
Along with the video, Musk also says that the Roadrunner production line is inspired by high-volume industries such as food and beverages, medical devices and toys.
Elon Musk compared the Tesla battery production line to that used by toy manufacturers and responded to a tweet by saying that the company will “make large cars the same way.”
The one-minute clip shows the white and blue battery moving through various stages of assembly with the help of armed robots and wheels
Along with the video, Musk also says that the Roadrunner production line is inspired by high-volume industries such as food and beverage, medical devices and toys.
Musk said in September that removing tabs from a battery allows for continuous movement through the system, which provides six times more power and allows a 16% increase in vehicle autonomy.
It is said that the tabless battery, called 4860, makes the company’s electronic vehicles five times denser in energy, six times more powerful and increases autonomy by 16%.
For the design, Tesla took the existing foils of the traditional batteries and created a laser model to form dozens of connections in the material.
Not only does it offer advantages to vehicles, but the design is easier to manufacture, requires fewer parts and has no shorter electric path length without clamps.
The tabless battery, called the 4860, is said to make the company’s electronic vehicles five times denser in energy, six times more powerful and increase its range by 16%.
The video gives the audience a first look at the Telsa production line at its pilot plant in Freemont, Texas, which is used specifically to make 4680 tabless batteries.
By reducing the distance the electron has to travel, the cell has fewer thermal problems and a shorter path length in a larger cell, according to Musk, who explained that although the cell is larger, it measures 80 millimeters in size. length, the power to weight ratio is better than a smaller tabbed cell.
“It’s pretty hard to do,” Musk said.
“No one has done that before.” So .. It really took a huge effort in Tesla engineering to figure out how to make a sheetless cell and make it work effectively and connect it to the top cover.
However, when the CEO took the stage at Tesla’s Battery Day, he presented only a PowerPoint presentation and not a physical cell.
“Nothing Musk has talked about batteries is a done deal,” said Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin. “There was nothing tangible.”
It is said that the way the Roadrunner production line is designed reduces manufacturing costs by 56%
Some have compared Roadrunner to the bottling system used by Coca-Cola
Investors expected two significant announcements on Musk’s “Battery Day”: the development of a good “millions of miles” battery for 10 years or more and a specific cost-cutting target – expressed in dollars per kilowatt-hour – which it would eventually lower the price of an electric vehicle below that of a gasoline car.
Musk didn’t offer any. Instead, he promised in the next few years to halve battery costs with new technologies and processes and deliver an “affordable” electric car.
“In three years … we can make a $ 25,000 car that will be pretty much equal, maybe a little better than a comparable gasoline car,” Musk said.
Musk acknowledged that Tesla has not fully designed its ambitious vehicles and batteries and manufacturing processes. Tesla frequently missed the production targets set by Musk.
Tesla expects to be able to build up to 20 million electric vehicles a year.