Tesla has taken a first look at its new tabless battery cell, called the 4680, and the Roadrunner production line, which, according to CEO Elon Musk, “will make full-size cars the same way cars are made.” .
The Tabless battery was first introduced in September during the company’s Battery Day, but Musk only showed it through a PowerPoint presentation.
Now, the time has come for Musk to show the world that Tesla has been working at its pilot battery factory in Fremont, Texas.
The one-minute clip shows the white and blue battery moving through different stages of assembly with the help of armed robots and wheels.
Tesla also took this opportunity to announce that it is taking applications for manufacturing jobs at its planned battery facilities in Berlin and Texas.
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Tesla has taken a first look at its new Tabless battery cell, dubbed the 4680, and the Roadrunner production line
The tabless cell was unveiled in September 2020 on Telsa Battery Day, which was considered a failure after Musk promised to reduce electricity costs so radically that an electric car with automatic driving would be possible. of $ 25,000, but revealed it would not happen for at least three years.
At the event, Musk also said there were 4680 low-volume production at a “pilot plant” in Fremont, Texas, but the video suggests the plant is expanding and the company wants to take seats.
The job posting says Tesla wants to hire in engineering, manufacturing, materials, equipment and operations.
Along with the video, Musk also says the Roadrunner production line is inspired by high-volume industries such as food and beverage, medical devices and toys.
Elon Musk compared Tesla’s battery production line to that of toy manufacturers and responded to a tweet saying with the machine that the firm “will make full-size cars the same way.”
The one-minute clip shows the white and blue battery moving through different stages of assembly with the help of armed robots and wheels
Along with the video, Musk also says the Roadrunner production line is inspired by high-volume industries such as food and beverage, medical devices and toys.
Musk said in September that removing the tabs from a battery allows for continuous movement through the system, which provides six times the power and allows vehicles to increase their range by 16%.
The tabless battery, called the 4860, is said to make the company’s electronic vehicles five times denser in energy, six times more powerful and increase the range by 16 percent.
For the design, Tesla took the existing sheets from the traditional batteries and created a laser pattern to form dozens of connections in the material.
Not only does it provide advantages to vehicles, but the design is easier to manufacture, needs fewer parts, and has no shorter electrical path length without tabs.
The Tabless battery, called the 4860, is said to make the company’s electronic vehicles five times denser in energy, six times more powerful and increase the range by 16 percent.
The video gives the public a first look at Telsa’s production line within its pilot plant located in Freemont, Texas, which is used specifically to manufacture 4680 tabless batteries.
By reducing the distance the electron has to travel, the cell has fewer thermal problems and a shorter trajectory in a larger cell, according to Musk, who explained that although the cell it is larger, measuring 80 millimeters in length, the weight ratio is better than a smaller cell with lashes.
“That’s pretty hard to do,” Musk said.
No one had done it before. So it really took a lot of effort within Tesla’s engineering to find out how a sleeveless table cell is made and how it works and we connect it to the top cover. “
However, when the CEO took to the stage at Tesla’s Battery Day, he only presented a PowerPoint presentation and not a physical cell.
“Nothing Musk talked about batteries is a real deal,” said Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners. “There was nothing tangible.”
The way the Roadrunner production line is designed is said to reduce manufacturing costs by 56 percent
Some have compared the Roadrunner to the bottling system used by Coca-Cola
Investors had expected two significant announcements during Musk’s “Battery Day”: the development of a good “million-mile” battery for ten years or more, and a specific cost-cutting goal (expressed in dollars for kilowatt-hour) which would eventually lower the price of an electric vehicle below that of a gasoline car.
Musk offered neither. Instead, he promised in the coming years to halve battery costs with new technology and processes and deliver an “affordable” electric car.
“In three years … we can make a $ 25,000 car that will be basically on the same level, maybe a little better than a comparable gasoline car,” Musk said.
Musk acknowledged that Tesla has not fully completed its ambitious vehicle and battery designs. Tesla has often failed the production goals set by Musk.
Tesla hopes to be able to finish building up to 20 million electric vehicles a year.