Panasonic plans to mass-produce 4680 batteries for Tesla next year

【EV Vision Report】Tesla (Tesla) battery supplier Panasonic rumors that it will mass-produce the new lithium-ion battery 4680 for vehicles next year (2023), and will be supplied to Tesla, this battery is expected to increase the endurance of electric vehicles by about 20%, and the mileage per unit weight is estimated to reach the longest in the world, thus promoting the further acceleration of the popularity of pure electric vehicles.

According to Nikkei Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun reported on the 24th, Panasonic plans to use the Wakayama plant in Japan to mass-produce 4680 batteries, with a new plant investment of about 80 billion yen, and some production lines will be opened within this year to establish the safety and efficiency of mass production, and will officially mass-produce 4680 batteries as soon as 2023. The annual production capacity of the production line is not determined, but it is expected to reach nearly 10 GWh, which is equivalent to supplying 150,000 electric vehicles, equivalent to nearly 20% of Panasonic's overall production capacity, and after establishing mass production technology in Japan and introducing mass production, it is also considering production at overseas plants such as the United States.

Panasonic's mass-produced 4680 battery will initially be supplied to Tesla. Tesla Model S currently has a full charge range of about 650km, and if it is equipped with a 4680 battery, the battery life is expected to be extended to about 750km.

4680 and the general battery, is a cylindrical type, diameter of 4.6cm, length of 8.0cm, the diameter is more than 2 times the current products (2170 batteries installed in Tesla Model 3 and other models), and the battery capacity is expanded to about 5 times, production efficiency can also be improved, it is expected that the production cost per unit capacity is 1-20% lower than the previous product, can store more energy, can reduce the number of batteries per electric vehicle.

Panasonic will adjust raw materials and manufacturing processes so that even if the battery is large-scale, the energy density will not decrease. Even the batteries that Panasonic now produces, the driving distance per unit weight is the longest in the world, and it will further improve its competitiveness with the help of new batteries.

Panasonic Battery Business Company Panasonic Energy President Only Believe Life said in an interview with the media on October 25, 2021 that due to strong requests from Tesla, the development of the 4680 battery is based on the premise of trading with Tesla.

In addition, the market recently reported that Panasonic will become one of the potential suppliers of Apple Car batteries in Apple's research and development, for this, only believe in a lifetime has not denied, saying that it does not deny the existence of various possibilities.

Japan's Fuji Economy forecasts that the global automotive power battery market will reach about 26 trillion yen by 2035, increasing to 8.5 times that of 2020. For automakers, the stable procurement of low-cost batteries is a matter of life and death.

According to data released by SNE Research, a South Korean market research institute, from January to November 2021, the global installed capacity of power batteries reached 250.8 GWh, an increase of 112% year-on-year. CATL led with 79.8 GWh, nearly one-third of the market share, LG New Energy ranked second with 51.5 GWh, and Panasonic retained the third place with 31.3 GWh.

Panasonic once held a higher share in the field of pure electric vehicle batteries, but LG New Energy and CATL participated in the supply of Tesla's China factory that was put into operation in 2019. Panasonic's exclusive supply of batteries to Tesla was dismantled, and market share declined. Panasonic is expected to make a comeback with the 4860 new battery.

Taketo Yamamoto, senior chief economist at Mizuho Research & Technologies, said that if the high-energy density of improved batteries and the like are practical, it will promote the further popularization of pure electric vehicles, and the market will further accelerate the expansion.

In addition to Panasonic, South Korean battery manufacturers Samsung SDI and LG New Energy have completed the development of 4680 battery samples. LG New Energy plans to start producing 4680 batteries for Tesla from 2023, and is considering building factories in the United States and Europe, while Samsung SDI has not clearly given a schedule for the production of 4680 batteries.

On September 22, 2020, Tesla released a 4680 cylindrical battery on Battery Day. CEO Musk introduced at the time that the 4680 battery energy increased by 5 times, the mileage increased by 16%, and the power increased by 6 times. Tesla's battery mass production target is to reach 100 GWh per year in 2022 and rapidly increase to 30,000 TWh per year in 2030. Tesla is currently focused on increasing battery production, and the company currently has a pilot production line for 4680 batteries at its Fremont, California plant. In order to meet the production demand, Tesla may incorporate Panasonic and LG new energy into the production of new batteries.