Electric Enabler
This article explains how Tesla batteries are making electric vehicles (EVs) affordable for customers. Tesla’s battery revolution began when CEO Elon Musk declared that it would sell a mass-market EV for just $35,000. To produce battery packs cheaply enough to reach that price point, Tesla reengineered not only the production process, but also the factory in which the batteries are made. The Reno, Nev., Gigafactory is not yet operating at full capacity, but it is expected to produce 35 GW per year of lithium-ion batteries, about double the present-day global production. Tesla partnered with Panasonic to revamp the production process, and ended up redesigning the chemistry of the battery itself. The standard “18-650” cell format used thousands of less-expensive commodity cells, similar to lithium-ion batteries used in laptop computers. Tesla replaced individual safety systems built into each cell with an inexpensive fireproof system for the entire battery pack. Now, they have begun producing the new “2170” cell, which delivers higher density through an automated system developed with Panasonic to further reduce costs.