From Model S's
In February this year, Tesla tweeted that it produced the 1 millionth 4680 battery at its California factory, which indicates that the 4680 will be mass-produced. As expected, two months later, Tesla officially announced that it would deliver the first batch of Model Y equipped with 4680 batteries to the Model Y bookmaker near its Texas factory in the United States. According to foreign media Drive Tesla Canada, its starting price is US$59,990 (about RMB 381,000).
This once again ignited everyone's expectations for 4680 mass-produced vehicles. From 18650 to 2170, and then to today's 4680, Tesla continues its "Three Electric Revolution" at a speed that seems to be flying in the industry. Of course, in the eyes of some consumers, from 18650 to 4680, it seems that the small battery of No. 5 is just transformed into a large battery of No. 2, which is not considered a black technology. So why is the industry so optimistic? Let's continue to look down.
■ 4680 Where is the "God"?
Many consumers may be troubled by the digital naming of batteries, so let’s first briefly understand its naming rules. Taking 4680 as an example, it actually refers to a battery with a "diameter" of 46mm and a "length" of 80mm. In fact, there is a 0 at the end of 4680, which represents a "cylindrical" battery, but we usually discard it. So learn from one example and learn from it. The names of 1865/18650 and 2170/21700 that we will mention later will be easy to understand.
OK. After understanding the naming rules, let’s take a deeper survey of this “big guy” with several times volume expansion. First, let’s see how the official promotes 4680, and then let’s see what Tesla has played.
5 times the energy increase
4680 battery diameter and height increase, making its volume nearly 5.5 times that of the 2170 battery, but the increase in volume greatly reduces the number of batteries required in the battery pack. For example, with the same battery capacity, 18650 requires more than 7200 battery cells, 2170 requires more than 4400 battery cells, and 4680 requires only 950 battery cells.
According to Tesla's data, the energy of a single battery cell of 4680 has indeed increased to 5 times that of 2170, but Tesla also played a text game here. Because has not significantly improved the unit energy density of 4680 compared with the 5.5 times volume of "expansion". However, large volume also means that when the 4680 battery is grouped, a large amount of auxiliary materials can be "cut off" and a larger capacity battery can be placed in a unit volume. Therefore, in comparison, the 4680 battery can increase the range of the entire vehicle by 16%.
Tesla claims that for cylindrical batteries, the diameter of 46mm is the best choice to combine high energy density and high power density after repeated test simulations. Some people familiar with the matter said that Tesla plans to have a single battery capacity of 98Wh in 2022, 2023, 108Wh in the second generation, and 118Wh in 2024. From this perspective, it is not a dream to achieve a battery life of 700km in the future.
6 times the power increase
The reason why Musk promoted the power of the 4680 battery at the press conference was 6 times that of the Panasonic 2170 battery, which is mainly due to the core improvement of the 4680 battery - the "Wuji Ear" process.
If you were as sarcastic as me when you were young, and you removed the battery because of curiosity, you will find that the manufacturing method of cylindrical batteries is wrapped layer by layer, and then a pole ear is placed on the positive and negative electrodes respectively. When discharging and charging, the electrons pass through the pole ear. The above figure shows the cross-section of the 18650 and 2170 batteries, but the 4680 is much larger than this, so as the battery size increases, the internal roll paper becomes thicker and thicker, and some electrons need to travel a long way to reach the extreme ear. At this time, the battery's charging and discharging efficiency will be limited, and greater heat will be generated due to greater internal resistance.
Tesla saw that I might as well not want the traditional meaning of the extreme. So in terms of process, 4680 directly reduced the glue at the connection between the positive and negative electrodes, and used laser technology for welding, so that electronics do not need to take a detour, and go home when you go out, which is happy and chic. Therefore, this process of "every ears everywhere" is called "the Wuji ear" technology. For this process, some experts in the industry call it "the total ear", which is definitely "no move is better than a move".
From a principle point of view, the innovation of 4680 batteries is more about the structural level and does not involve the material system. In welding, the 4680 adopts more advanced laser technology, and PVDF coating is added to the positive and negative electrodes, and more aluminum foil and copper foil and are used to protect the electrode material. In addition, the 4680 battery also has highlight technologies such as silicon-based negative electrode and dry positive electrode, which allows the 4680 not only achieves efficient charging and discharging efficiency, allowing it to charge from 10% to 80% in 15 minutes, but also solves the problem of excessive heat generation and ensures the safety of the battery cell.
cost is reduced by 56%
We also mentioned earlier that due to the decrease in the number of batteries required for battery packs, the proportion of metal shells has decreased, and the number of structural parts and welding has also decreased significantly, so the cost of 4680 is reduced by 14% compared with the 2170 battery. On the other hand, the smaller number of batteries also makes the monitoring and status analysis of BMS (battery management system) simpler for battery monitoring and status analysis, and the development cost can be reduced accordingly.
According to the data released by Tesla on Battery Day, Tesla is confident that through innovative technologies such as 4680, the unit cost of is reduced by 56%, the battery cell design accounts for 14%, the battery cell factory accounts for 18%, the negative electrode material accounts for 5%, the positive electrode material accounts for 12%, and the battery cell chassis integration accounts for 7%. If mass production can be achieved according to the design goals, it will be important good news for consumers.
Overall, 4680 is better than the "ex-officials", which is also the main reason why Tesla will push 4680 in the future. The arrival of 4680 batteries can indeed realize Tesla's corporate vision of "complete vehicles worth less than US$25,000" faster. So the question is, does it need for consumers to "get on the car" as soon as possible?
■ The first batch of car owners or wait parties?
4680 is so delicious, consumers will definitely care more about "I am the first group of car owners or wait-and-see parties." Don't worry, we have done some data analysis, hoping to give you some reference.
has the battery life span long?
Let’s first look at a set of data. As early as February this year, a Tesla researcher @Troy Teslike on Twitter revealed Tesla’s performance upgrade plan for 4680 battery cells from 2022 to 2024: the first generation to be mass-produced in 2022, a single capacity of 98Wh; the second generation to be mass-produced in 2023, a single capacity of 108Wh; the third generation to be mass-produced in 2024 will arrive at 118Wh.
According to Troy's prediction, the battery cell capacity of this year's 4680 battery is 98Wh, so its "volume energy density" is about 737wh/L, which is slightly lower than the current 2170 battery 778wh/L value, but after 2023, the battery cell capacity of 4680 will achieve a substantial increase. However, this year's "weight energy density" of 4680 batteries has exceeded the current 2170 batteries, reaching 276Wh/kg.
Conclusion: In terms of energy density, the 4680 battery in 2022 has no obvious advantage over the current 2170 battery, but with the support of CTC technology (the battery pack becomes part of the chassis structure), the battery life may be slightly improved. Is
charging fast?
But don’t forget that with a series of improved and innovative processes such as "Wujier", the 4680 battery has qualitatively improved the charging and discharging efficiency. Currently, Tesla's latest supercharger technology is Supercharger V3, with a peak power of 250kW, which is still at the top level in the industry at the moment. As early as June 2021, Musk said that the power of V will increase further, and there are expected 280kW, 300kW and 350kW versions.
Recently, foreign netizens revealed that Tesla's V3 supercharger pile peak power in North America will increase from the current 250 kW to 324 kW later this year, and the higher-power V4 supercharger pile will also arrive later.
Conclusion: In terms of charging efficiency, especially after the Supercharger V4 is released, the advantages of the 4680 battery will be further reflected, bringing a significant improvement to the daily use experience of car owners. Is
priced low?
Last point, because models equipped with 4680 use Tesla's latest CTC technology and two-stage integrated die casting machine . The purpose of these three black technologies is to "reduce costs and increase efficiency", so thanks to excellent cost control, the price of models equipped with 4680 batteries may be reduced simultaneously. Judging from the previously exposed employee emails, the starting price of the 4680 standard battery life Model Y produced in the Austin, Texas factory in the United States is US$59,990 (about RMB 381,000).
Currently, the first batch of new cars are suspected to be delivered to employees only. The price of US$59,990 (about RMB 381,000) is $62,990 (about RMB 400,000) is already $3,000 (about RMB 19,000) cheaper than the entry-level models sold on the official website of the United States (Model Y long-range AWD version) and the price is $3,000 (about RMB 19,000). Although it seems to be much higher than the starting price in China, it should be clear that the entry-level models of Model Y sold in North America are the four-wheel drive version of dual motors.
Conclusion: We have reason to believe that if a model equipped with a 4680 battery enters the country in the future, it is highly likely that the Model Y will be still, and the price will be reduced to a certain extent than the same configuration of the old model.
all the way, and the first batch of car owners who rush to make 4680 seem not to be "leek", but it should be noted that because Tesla and CATL power battery orders are signed in 2025, the domestic Tesla Model 3 and Model Y will still be equipped with CATL's "lithium iron phosphate" batteries, while the long-term and high-performance models will continue to be equipped with Korean LG's "ternary lithium" batteries; at the same time, the production capacity and yield rate of 4680 batteries are still climbing, and the 1 million batteries in the beginning look very frightening, but even if the yield rate is 100%, this number will only be equipped with 1,000 Model Ys, which is not enough to plug into the gaps. To sum up, 4680 is likely not to come to China so soon, so this wave is the victory of " and other parties "!
■ A brief discussion on the evolution of Tesla batteries
above we also mentioned that the 4680 battery is already the third stage of Tesla battery evolution. Before this, the battery used by Sla in the first stage was 18650, which is the same as the internal battery of the power bank we are using now. Now the Maverick Electric Vehicle still uses 18650, while the second generation battery is 2170 battery, and the third generation battery is the current 4680 battery.
The first generation starts: 18650 battery
It can be said that Tesla's success is closely related to 18650. Friends who have read our new energy history of General Motors must remember that after the failure of the GM EV1 project, several General Motors R&D engineers came out to start a business to create the lead-acid battery car T-Zero. Later, T-zero replaced the "lead-acid battery" with "
Advantages: 18650 was the earliest commercialized at that time. Its application in conventional electronic products was very widely used, the highest degree of production automation, and relatively low cost. And years of experience accumulated high yield and consistency. So 18650 undoubtedly became one of Tesla's "starting equipment".
insufficient: 18650 is not specially designed for electric vehicles to drive batteries. The energy density after the battery is grouped is not high. Moreover, because of its small size, the number of battery packs is 5,000+, making the management of BMS (battery management system) more complicated.
represents models: Tesla's first generation Roadster, Model S, Model X
Second generation Advanced: 2170 Battery
As Tesla's demand for improved battery life and reduced costs is getting higher and higher, in 2017, the 2170 battery developed by Tesla and Panasonic was launched, produced by the Tesla Gigafactory super battery factory, and was first equipped on Model 3. Musk once confidently stated that "this battery (2170) will be the highest density and cheapest battery in the world", which shows that 2170 has made great progress compared to 18650.
Advantages: Compared with 18650 batteries, the energy density of the entire package of 2170 battery pack has been further improved, and the newly added multi-pole ears of the 2170 battery also make it charge faster. Of course, due to the increase in volume, the 2170 battery can use fewer cells to form a battery pack of the same capacity, and the BMS control management and protection algorithm is simpler.
deficiency: Although the increase in volume and size of slightly improves the shortcomings of
represents the model: Tesla Model 3, Model Y
Third generation evolution: 4680 battery
In fact, when the 2170 battery was just "on the car", Tesla was already preparing for the 4680. In 2017, we established a research partnership with "lithium battery pioneer" Jeff Dahn to jointly explore the most suitable battery sizes, and proposed the "Wujier" design plan in 2020, so the protagonist of this article - 4680 battery.
Advantages: 46 of 4680 is the optimal solution to improve battery life and reduce costs explored by Tesla, which has been recognized by most industry peers. At the same time, the 4680 battery has added silicon to the negative electrode graphite , further improving the energy density and charging speed. The increase in volume and the addition of the "Wuji Ear" design have greatly simplified the control management of BMS and the manufacturing cost has hit a new low.
insufficient: high nickel will make the inside of the battery more lively, and controlling the incidence of thermal runaway in the monomer is a test. Secondly, the current yield rate and production capacity of 4680 are still in the rising stage, and it will take some time to achieve large-scale mass production.
represents products: future Tesla Model Y, electric pickup Cybertruck, electric truck Semi
■ Bondianping
From integrated die casting, CTC battery packaging, and then to the arrival of 4680 batteries, Tesla allows us to see the creativity and execution ability of daring to be the first, which is also the core driving force that Tesla can lead the industry. Although it has not launched a new model for two years, it is obvious that Tesla has been arming its latest technological achievements for its products, and has forced the entire automobile industry to continue to make progress with its strong competitiveness of "increasing volume and reducing prices". From a company that is least favored by Wall Street , Tesla has grown into an industry giant step by step into a company that is not favorable to all car companies.
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