According to reports, two trucks loaded with battery production equipment drove into the inventory area of Tesla's Texas Gigafactory, marked as "Positive Production Line 1" and "Negative Production Line 1" respectively. The signal released by this move is that Tesla has begun to install 4680 production line equipment and is preparing for trial production of 4680 batteries.

　　This battery with a diameter of 46mm and a height of 80mm was first announced on Tesla Battery Day last September. The single energy density can be increased by 5 times to 300Wh/kg, and the charging and discharging efficiency is 6 times higher than that of a battery with tabs. Mounted on the vehicle can increase the cruising range by 16% and reduce the cost of electricity by 56%.

　　In September, Tesla's Berlin factory broke ground, mainly producing 4680 batteries. Musk said that he hopes the Berlin plant will produce 5,000 Model Y with 4680 batteries per week by the end of 2022, ideally 10,000 vehicles per week.

　　In addition, Tesla’s pilot plant in Kato Road, Fremont, USA is also accelerating the production of 4680 batteries, with an estimated annual production capacity of 10GWh. With the relocation of Tesla's headquarters to Texas, the Texas plant will also produce 4680 batteries, which is expected to be mass-produced in 2022.

　　It is reported that the current trial production line yield rate of Tesla 4680 batteries has increased from 20% last year to 70%-80%. At the recent Q3 exchange meeting, Tesla also confirmed that the first batch of cars equipped with the new 4680 battery will be delivered next year.

　　Tesla's plan is to provide early-stage batteries for the first batch of cars at the Fremont pilot plant, after which it will soon need battery partners and new production facilities in Berlin and Texas to support greater production.

　　According to news at the end of August, in addition to Panasonic, which is already cooperating, Tesla has begun to look for other 4680 large cylindrical battery manufacturers, including CATL, LG Chem, Eve Lithium and so on.

　　Competing for 4680 battery orders, including Panasonic, LG New Energy, Samsung SDI, CATL, Eve Lithium Energy, BAK Battery, Honeycomb Energy and other Chinese, Japanese and Korean battery companies have set foot in the development of the Big Cylinder/4680 battery cell and speed up the follow-up 4680 battery layout.

　　We can summarize some information:

　　1. Centralized mass production in 2022-2024

　　According to the currently announced plan, Tesla will take the lead in mass production in 2022, and it is expected that the first batch of batteries will be mounted on Model Y; Panasonic will start trial production in March 2022; LG New Energy’s goal is to complete the trial before Panasonic starts mass production. The production line is planned to be mass-produced in 2023 at the earliest; BAK has begun planning a mass production base for large-size cylindrical batteries, which is expected to be mass-produced in the next two years; Eve Lithium Energy and StoreDot are jointly developed and planned to be mass-produced in 2024.

　　2. Breakthrough fast charging performance

　　Due to the larger size of the battery cell, the more the battery cell generates heat and the harder it is to dissipate heat due to the presence of resistance, which in turn affects the charging speed. The Tesla 4680 battery cell adopts the all-pole lug solution, and the metal sheet is directly connected with the battery pole lug, and the contact area is larger. For breakthroughs in welding processes and materials, no more details have been announced.

　　Through technical optimization of the structural design, impedance can be greatly reduced, and the fast-charging performance can be 3 times higher than that of conventional monopolar ear cells; Israeli start-up company StoreDot has produced the first 4680 cells that can be fully charged in just 10 minutes.

　　3. CTC technology achieves cost reduction

　　In the context of rising prices of raw materials, the importance of reducing costs through assembly technology and new battery pack designs has become increasingly prominent.

　　Tesla demonstrated the latest battery pack technology-structure battery. The CTC method directly integrates the battery cell into the chassis of the vehicle, removes the module and battery pack, greatly reduces the middleware in the battery pack, and improves the volume utilization rate of the battery pack. This also applies to its 2170 cells, which are expected to be compatible with other size cells in the future.

　　Musk has said that after adopting CTC technology, it can save 370 parts, reduce body weight by 10%, and reduce battery cost per kilowatt-hour by 7%.

　　Lithium-ion battery (LIB) has become the main energy storage solution in modern social life. Among them, lithium iron phosphate batteries are a perfect substitute for lead-acid batteries, and are the first choice for grid-connected peak shaving, off-grid energy storage, photovoltaic energy storage, UPS, data center and other industries.