SMM6 13-Elon Musk hinted or has almost confirmed that Tesla is starting to produce his own battery, using new technology from Maxwell, which may even mine minerals to produce batteries.
It is sometimes easy to think that Tesla has produced his own battery because it claims to own the world's largest battery factory, but this is not the case.
At the Gigafactory 1 plant, which is co-owned by Tesla and Panasonic in Nevada, Panasonic has a battery production line at the plant. Tesla bought these batteries from Japanese suppliers to produce battery modules and battery packs in other parts of the same factory
At Tesla's 2019 shareholder meeting, the CEO highlighted the fact that Tesla's product launch is currently limited by the scale of battery production. " As we expand our battery production, we must pay more attention to the supply chain and possibly into the mining industry. I have no idea. At least a little bit, as much as we can, so that we can expand as fast as we can. When it comes to battery production, Tesla, who struck deals directly with mining companies and is increasingly involved in supply chain production, said he did not want too many companies involved in the production of the supply chain.
Straubel, a former chief battery expert at Tesla, added, "We need a solution for mass battery production. However, he did not directly say that he took over battery production, nor did he rely on Panasonic. Tesla's vice president of technology, Drew Baglino, added that they wanted to be" the master of their own destiny "on this issue.
The CEO also briefly referred to the recent integration of battery technology from Maxwell: "We think this is really quite strategic [..], which is a very important technology that has a significant impact on the production of battery components, while reducing the cost and capital required to produce battery components on a large scale.
However, he did not want to comment. More information will be announced at the Battery and Powertrain Investor Day, which Tesla plans to hold at the end of this year.
I think the possibility of Tesla entering the battery production itself is very high.
Musk didn't say directly that he would make his own battery, but they made so many hints that they all confirmed some of their views. The most important time was when he listed two of the most important things: batteries and full autopilot.
Tesla has done it successfully, and it makes perfect sense to build another.
When Musk talked about not letting anyone else in for the time being, Straubel talked about a "large-scale solution for battery production." He was talking about the production of battery components, not batteries. The series of comments by Elon, Straubel and Drew were suspicious, and Strabel looked at him with a strangely nervous smile when Drew said they had "learned a lot from their partners," and now they "have a solution." To me, the smile meant "no, don't say" and didn't want him to say that Tesla would make his own battery components.
If we consider Elon's words about Maxwell, it is clear that Tesla is trying to use his experience to work with Panasonic and start producing his own battery components with technology acquired from Maxwell. This will be a major step forward. Tesla is already the most relevant carmaker in battery production, and if their technology is as good as they hear, it will take their lead to a whole new level.
