What's up with 4680 battery cells?
Why is Tesla even trying to produce 4680 cells?
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‘‘The 4680 is going to fail and never be successful.’’
― Robin Zeng, CATL Founder and Chairman
You've likely heard all the hype surrounding Tesla's 4680 battery cells. Introduced during Tesla's Battery Day in 2020, the 4680 cell format promises higher energy content and power capability. Four years later, this battery format has only been integrated into some Tesla vehicles produced at Gigafactory Texas, such as the Model Y and the Cybertruck.
The production of 4680 cells has encountered significant challenges. There have been rumors that Tesla has been recalling Cybertrucks equipped with these 4680 cells due to an issue termed "Cell Side Dent Induced Core Collapse." Additionally, CATL's founder, Robin Zeng, has publicly expressed skepticism about this battery format, stating outright that it will never work. Even Elon himself was on the verge of scrapping the project altogether. Nevertheless, it seems that Tesla has tapped China's Ningbo Ronbay New Energy and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing to help reduce materials costs as it ramps up production of 4680 battery cells.
