Tesla revealed that its cumulative production of 4680-type cylindrical battery cells at the Giga Texas site reached 10 million units.
The company attached an image of the team, celebrating the milestone, which is crucial for the future of many EV projects.
"Produced our 10 millionth 4680 cell at Giga Texas this week!"
Currently, Tesla produces the 4680-type battery cells at the Kato Road pilot facility in Fremont, California (near the Tesla Factory) and at the Giga Texas plant.
The 4680-type batteries are used only in a single version of the Tesla Model Y (AWD), produced in Texas, but are expected to be used also in other versions and models, including the upcoming Tesla Cybertruck pickup.
We don't know the current production rate of the 4680-type cells or the total cumulative production. On December 25, Tesla announced that the production rate amounted to 868,000 per week (equal to over 1,000 cars).
Assuming an average level of 1 million units per week (just for reference), the company would be at around 25 million units since December. It's believed that one Tesla Model Y AWD is equipped with 828 battery cells, so it would be enough for no less than 30,000 cars. That's excluding 2021-2022 production (potentially another 10 million units and 10,000+ cars).
Tesla's 4680-type cylindrical battery cells milestones:
- Sept, 2020: announcement of the 4680-type cylindrical battery cells
[The Limiting Factor's teardown and specs, Munro Live's teardown, structural battery pack teardown] - Feb 18, 2022: 1 millionth cell produced in January 2022 (Kato Road pilot facility)
- Dec 25, 2022: cell production rate amounted to 868,000 per week (equal to over 1,000 cars)
- June 16, 2023: Tesla produced 10 millionth cell at the Giga Texas site
Troy Teslike, assumes that Tesla currently might be able to produce several million 4680-type cells per month. That's a lot - potentially up to 0.5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per month (a few GWh per year), but still just a fraction of what the company needs for the Tesla Model Y (to switch from 2170-type batteries to 4680-type in other versions on a mass scale) and the upcoming Tesla Cybertruck.
Potential, unofficial 4680-type cell usage:
- Tesla Model Y AWD: 828 cells per pack (67.3 kWh)
- Tesla Cybertruck Standard Range: 1,232 cells per pack (100 kWh)
