Tesla announced today a major new investment plan for its Gigafactory site in Nevada, which will produce new 4680-type cylindrical battery cells and Tesla Semi Class 8 semi truck.
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo was present at the event and took a tour of the facility, including the current Tesla Semi assembly line.
One of the most interesting things is a new photo, which shows part of the battery system (normally hidden under the cab).
We can see massive black boxes with batteries (there are nine of them, according to the previous post with technical images), as well as high-voltage orange cables and some other lines for other systems.
Tesla intends to offer two versions of the Semi - with a range of 300 miles (483 km) and 500 miles (805 km).
The 500-mile version of the Semi is estimated to have somewhere around 850-900 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of battery capacity (based on energy consumption numbers). The official number has not been released.
The newly developed battery system was designed for a "thousand volt powertrain," and a megawatt level fast charging.
During the Q3 2022 earnings call (via Teslarati), Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the Tesla Semi does not use the 4680-type cylindrical battery cells. We assume that the current version (in limited production) is equipped with 2170-type cylindrical battery cells (produced on-site, the same as in the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y.
However, it's expected that in the future (when they are available in volume), Tesla will switch to the 4680-type. At least, it would make sense, considering that both the Semi and 4680-type cells will be produced at the plant.
We might see how the Tesla Semi battery system looks inside if Munro & Associates is able to complete its teardown crowdfunding and purchase a vehicle.
