Tesla partners to deliver 4680 lithium batteries

　　The 4680 lithium battery launched by Tesla has stirred up the entire lithium battery industry, making the world-renowned lithium battery companies accelerate the production of large cylindrical lithium batteries. Although SES Power believes that it is unlikely that the 4680 lithium battery can completely solve the real production capacity problem this year, it is undeniable that almost all lithium battery manufacturers are actively promoting the development of this model.

　　At present, global mainstream battery companies, including CATL, LG New Energy, Panasonic, EVE Lithium Energy, BAK Battery, Gotion Hi-Tech, Honeycomb Energy, Lishen Battery, Penghui Energy, Samsung SDI, etc., are actively Follow up on the layout of large cylindrical batteries including 4680.

　　Recently, Panasonic officially revealed to the media that it has delivered samples of the latest 4680 cylindrical battery cells to Tesla, and has begun a lot of preparations before mass production. Tesla said it has received samples of Panasonic's 4680 lithium battery.

　　There are reports that Tesla is looking forward to Panasonic to mass-produce 4680 lithium batteries as soon as possible, as this can power Tesla's electric pickup, the Cybertruck, which will be mass-produced in 2023.

　　It is understood that Panasonic has started small-scale trial production of 4680 cells in May this year, and plans to enter mass production operations from April 2023, when Tesla expects to supply 4680 cells with an annual capacity of 10GWh. About 150,000 electric vehicles can be used.

　　"The new vehicle battery will be mass-produced in Wakayama Prefecture as soon as 2023 and supplied to the North American market." Panasonic said, at the same time, the company has also included production in North America and the establishment of a new factory in the plan, striving to increase production significantly. Panasonic's business target is set to reach 970 billion yen in sales and 87 billion yen in operating profit in 2024. The battery capacity is expected to increase from the current about 50GWh to about 200GWh.

　　Previously, Panasonic CEO Kusumi Yuki said in April that it would invest 600 billion yen in the future in car batteries, supply chain software and other areas seen as the core of growth.

　　"The goal is to expand vehicle battery production capacity by 3-4 times in 2028 and mainly focus on the North American market." Panasonic said that the company is discussing which state in the United States will build a new battery plant. There are reports that Panasonic is investigating potential sites in Kansas and Oklahoma to supply batteries for Tesla's Texas plant.

　　According to official data from Tesla, it delivered 310,000 new cars in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 68% compared with 184,900 in the same period last year. Among them, Model 3 and Model Y models accounted for 95% of deliveries. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on the earnings call that in 2022 Tesla is confident that it will achieve at least 50% growth on the basis of 2021 and should be able to produce 1.5 million vehicles.

　　The substantial increase in car sales has led to a rapid increase in Tesla's demand for batteries, so Tesla has high hopes for 4680 lithium batteries. According to previous reports, in April this year, Tesla began to deliver Model Y from its new Texas factory. At the Cyber Rodeo opening event, Tesla delivered the first batch of cars equipped with 4680 self-developed cells.

　　Musk said that Tesla delivered the first electric vehicles equipped with self-produced 4680 lithium batteries, which is an important milestone. Later this year, its Texas factory is expected to be able to produce Model Y with 4680 structured battery packs and 2170 unstructured battery packs at the same time. At the same time, its Berlin plant will also achieve 2170 and 4680 co-production.

　　"Tesla's Texas factory will become the world's largest battery factory in the future. It is estimated that by the end of 2022, the company's 4680 lithium battery production capacity will reach 100GWh per year, which can meet the needs of 1.3 million electric vehicles." Musk said.

　　At present, Tesla's 4680 lithium battery uses high nickel positive electrode + silicon carbon negative electrode material, as well as electrodeless ear technology, the energy density reaches 300Wh/kg, the battery capacity is increased by 5 times and the output power is increased by 6 times compared with the current plan. The range of the car can be increased by 16%, and the cost per kilowatt-hour of the battery can be reduced by 14%.

　　According to industry forecasts, 4680 lithium batteries are expected to accelerate in the next few years. Referring to the replacement rhythm of 21700 to 18650 batteries, the application of terminal OEMs is also expected to gradually penetrate from Tesla to high-end electric vehicle manufacturers such as BMW and Daimler.

　　Many battery companies are optimistic about the prospects of large cylindrical batteries such as 4680. BAK Battery stated that the large cylindrical battery with all tabs will be our core flagship product for the high-end vehicle market. At present, the large cylindrical power battery of BAK full-tab technology has entered the stage of mass production of samples, and the development progress and sample delivery results are in line with expectations.

　　EVE Lithium Energy believes that the 46 series cylindrical batteries (4680 and 4695 batteries) have outstanding safety and economy, and are not deformed, and are expected to become the ultimate technical direction of power batteries. Previously, EVE Lithium Energy has disclosed that the company will build 4680 and 4695 large cylindrical battery production lines in Jingmen base, which may be the first (batch) production base for mass production of 4680 and 4695 large cylindrical batteries in the world.

　　According to media reports, BMW is considering the use of cylindrical batteries in new electric platforms starting in 2025. Samsung SDI, CATL, EVE Lithium and Northvolt have supplied prismatic cells to BMW, and BMW is planning to source cylindrical cells from these companies.

　　Honeycomb Energy previously stated that the large cylinder has great potential for application in many scenarios in the future. The market share of the three battery forms may be 40% for square, 30% for soft pack, and 20-30% for cylinder. Compared with the 21700, the current large cylinder will undergo subversive changes in the design and production process.

　　SES Power believes that once the 4680 can be mass-produced normally, it will gradually impact the power and energy storage market, which is now dominated by square aluminum-shell lithium batteries, because it is quite flexible and has enough cost reduction channels. Therefore, although we still use high-quality square aluminum-shell lithium iron phosphate batteries from CATL, EVE, BYD and other manufacturers to make our products, such as 12V to 560V, the capacity is from 1KWh to 1MWh, covering lead-acid replacement, industrial support, UPS, RV, solar energy storage, home energy storage, etc., we still invest in research and development to follow up the development of the 4680 model.