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Tesla is currently in the process of building two brand new factories on two continents. In addition, the EV maker is also increasing production capacity at its current operational plants in Shanghai and California.
According to Tesla’s Q3 2021 earnings call, the EV maker plans to grow production by 50% annually for the foreseeable future. And to achieve this goal, Tesla has identified battery cell shortage as the major constraint.
Recently Elon Musk went into detail about why Tesla delayed Cybertruck volume production to 2023. And in his explanation, Musk said Tesla was forced to delay the Cybertruck as the EV maker is already utilizing all the cells it could find to meet the demand for the currently under-production Tesla Models.
Tesla’s cell constraint is also apparent in its latest price adjustments for its vehicles. Since the beginning of 2021, Tesla has increased vehicle prices by a minimum of $6000 and by as much as $26,000.
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Musk says the recent price increases were due to supply line disruptions and cell shortages. However, in the long run, Elon hopes vehicle prices will come down and make Teslas more affordable to a wider swath of the population.
One strategy Tesla is using to increase battery supply is to vertically integrate battery cell production. According to Tesla’s Battery Day event, Tesla will foray into cell production with the company’s upcoming 4680 cells.
The new cells pack several battery cell chemistry and architecture improvements which not only make the batteries significantly more energy-dense but also will make them cheaper and easier to produce.
Currently, Tesla has a pilot cell production plant in Keto Road California next to its Fremont factory. The plant has an annual production capacity of 10GWhs which will enable it to supply cells to about 15,000 vehicles a year.
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However, Tesla’s two new factories, Giga Texas and Giga Berlin have a long-term annual production goal of 1 million vehicles each. And if Tesla hopes to reach this ambitious production goal, the EV maker will then need to increase cell production significantly.
And now we have good news suggesting Tesla is indeed aggressively moving to grow battery production. According to a video by Jeff Roberts, who flies drones over Giga Texas regularly, Tesla has started receiving battery cell production equipment at the Austin Gigafactory construction site.
In Robert’s recent drone footage we see two truckloads of battery production equipment entering the storage area of the mile-long Texas Gigafactory. The boxes were labeled Anode Line 1 and Cathode Line 1.
An interesting delivery arrives at Giga Texas today! #gigatexas #Tesla #Battery pic.twitter.com/NCdtixNcaL— Jeff Roberts (@peterdog15) November 2, 2021
According to Roberts, the box labeled Anode 1 was later driven toward the battery cell production area of the facility. And based on this information Roberts believes that Tesla has started installing the equipment for the 4680 cell production line at Giga Texas.
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This is certainly exciting news and suggests Giga Texas battery production is closer than most people anticipate. In our previous article, we have reported Giga Texas’ construction has progressed so far ahead of Giga Berlin that Tesla is considering building 4680 cells in Austin and shipping them to Giga Berlin.
As of now, we don’t know exactly when Tesla plans to begin cell production at Giga Texas. We will be sure to keep you posted as we get more information. Make sure to visit our site torquenew.com/Tesla for the latest updates.
So what do you think? Excited Tesla has begun tooling the Giga Texas 4680 battery plant? When do you think we will see vehicles rolling off the production line at Giga Texas? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.
For more information check out: This Is How The Lucid Air Manages 520 Miles Between Charges Also, see Tesla Already Delivering Cars to Hertz, Despite Musk Saying Contract Is Not Signed Yet.
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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