Elon Musk confirms that Tesla’s Berlin factory will use the 4680 battery cells, battery-integrated chassis, front and rear single-body casting, and a new painting system that were released on Battery Day.
Elon also mentioned that the introduction of new technology brings great risks to production. However, if the production in Berlin goes smoothly, both the Fremont and Shanghai factories will also undergo corresponding upgrades within two years.
Recently, Elon has repeatedly emphasized the enormous difficulty of mass-producing new technologies, as he did before the Battery Day. Combined with the capacity hell experienced by the Model 3 before, I think his understanding of this is profound and cautious. Only when capacity is increased can the true test of technological implementation be seen.
In addition, I recently watched Sandy Munro, a great Tesla dismantling master, dismantle the new battery chassis. He emphasized two points. Firstly, the new integrated chassis received high praise from him. He even used the phrase “this gonna be phenomena” to describe it because the new design greatly improves the rigidity of the body. Secondly, he mentioned the 4680 battery cells, saying that a single large cell would reduce 30%-40% of the amount of metal used compared to the 2170 cells, greatly improving lightweighting and energy density.
Regarding the topic of technological implementation, having experienced severe capacity hell, whether Tesla can successfully complete the mass production that Elon said is a thousand times more difficult than coming up with new technologies. I think it will be slower than expected. The “innovation” of the front and rear single-body casting is indeed a leap forward. Being the first is innovative, but being two steps ahead is heroic. Even if Tesla does it, it will be a considerable challenge.
What do you think about this?
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.