At the opening day of the Berlin factory just past, although Musk danced happily in the delivery process to celebrate, but in the follow-up Q&A, Musk pointed out with concern: "Next year's battery production will be a major challenge, and in the next few years, this will also be a limiting factor for Tesla's production increase." ”
The Berlin plant's production line includes vehicle manufacturing and supporting battery manufacturing, and the annual battery production capacity of the Berlin plant can reach 50GWh when fully produced. But before the battery factory starts, Tesla expects to be able to import batteries only from China for use in the Berlin-made Model Y.
The root cause of the general price increase of electric vehicles in the Chinese market since the first quarter also comes from the rise of battery raw materials, and Tesla, as the most responsive company, has even completed three price increases in a week. However, the price increase is only a palliative measure after the transmission of cost pressure, and only when the contradiction between supply and demand of the battery cell is alleviated, tesla's production capacity can be released.
Musk believes that at least 300 TWh (terawatt-hour) of battery capacity will be needed in the future to allow the world to transition to a sustainable energy economy. The current annual growth rate of battery production has actually done a good job, reaching 70-80%, but this is still far from enough.
It can be seen that in addition to Tesla holding hands with major power battery leaders to win orders, the technical exploration of the battery itself is also continuing.
The 4680 batteries released at Battery Day last year were trial-produced at a pilot plant in California in January this year, and the Model Y, which is expected to carry the batteries as soon as possible, will be unveiled at the Texas plant next month.
Overall, Tesla will continue to focus on nickel-based chemicals on long-range products and ferric phosphate on short-range products.
In addition, Musk also revealed again that they are indeed making batteries with more materials, and are optimistic about manganese-based materials, "I think manganese has great potential." At the same time, it is clear that Tesla is currently working on manganese-based batteries.