Per reporter: Li Xing Per editor: Sun Lei
On January 16, the news that "Tesla 4680 large cylindrical battery has made a major breakthrough, and production costs have been reduced by 54%" has aroused widespread attention from the outside world.
In this regard, the "Daily Economic News" reporter immediately verified with a number of Tesla China staff, and all replied: "At present, there is no relevant news. ”
A few days ago, Tesla announced on social platforms that its 4680 battery team at the Fremont Gigafactory in California, USA, produced 868,000 lithium-ion battery cells in nearly a week, which can be equipped with more than 1,000 electric vehicles.
In fact, Tesla CEO Musk revealed as early as last August at Tesla's 2022 shareholder meeting that the 4680 battery is expected to reach high productivity by the end of 2022.
According to public information, Tesla released the 4680 battery with a diameter of 46 mm and a height of 80 mm in September 2020, aiming to significantly increase cruising range and reduce production costs. Compared with the 2170 battery, the 4680 battery has 5 times more energy per the monomer and can increase the vehicle mileage by 16%. "In the future, improvements in battery materials and vehicle design will result in a net 56% increase in cruising range and a 54% reduction in production costs." At that time, Tesla said.
With the self-developed 4680 battery put into production, Tesla's new car cost will be further greatly reduced. And with it, or Tesla's next round of price cuts. "Tesla products are priced based on the cost of production." Musk said.
A few days ago, Tesla announced that Model 3 and Model Y both reduced prices, with a maximum reduction of 48,000 yuan; the Model 3 and Model Y models sold in South Korea fell between 6 million won and 11.65 million won (about 32,500 yuan to 63,100 yuan), and the two models fell by about 10% in Japan.
Image source: Tesla China official website
In the European market, taking Germany as an example, the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version fell by 12%, and the sale price was reduced by 43,990 euros (about 319,300 yuan); the Model Y rear-wheel drive version was reduced by 16.85%, and the price was reduced by 44,890 euros (about 325,900 yuan).
On January 13, Tesla's official website also released a price reduction notice, and the reduction rate of all models ranged from 6%~20%. Among them, the price of the Model Y long-range version was reduced by $13,000.
This round of global price reductions has attracted a large number of Tesla owners at home and abroad to protect their rights, and requires Tesla to give corresponding compensation plans, such as requiring Tesla to give away FSD or EAP assisted driving functions worth 100,000 yuan for free.
For the owner's rights protection, Musk replied on his social account a few days ago that when Tesla increased the price, he did not ask the owner to compensate, and Tesla did not need to compensate the owner if he chose to reduce the price, which is very fair.
In response to user rights protection, Tesla Vice President Tao Lin also explained at the first time: "Behind Tesla's price adjustment, it covers countless engineering innovations, which is essentially a unique excellent law of cost control: including not limited to vehicle integration design, production line design, supply chain management, and even optimization of robotic arm coordination routes in milliseconds, etc., starting from 'first principles' and insisting on cost pricing." ”
Image source: Sina Weibo (@Grace Tao Lin-Tesla)
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association, also said that Tesla's price reduction this time is reasonable. "Tesla has performed well in 2022, and the market size has increased significantly, so the cost has decreased, and it is natural that the price should be reduced." Cui Dongshu thought.
According to official data, Tesla delivered a total of 1.31 million new vehicles worldwide in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 40%, lower than the annual sales growth of 50%.
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