Thread for chemistry and the impact on range, cost etc. Some details here: Tesla unveils battery puzzle pieces of smart material science, design, and manufacturing innovation - Electrek 4680 cell design, chassis integration & factory discussion for investors Mechanical discussion here pls: 4680 cell design, chassis integration & factory discussion for investors
From Battery Day thread: Anode Novonix DPMG graphite granules Dry electrode from Maxwell SilLion high loading Silicon Dahn's Anode free (not coated) and Lithium metal cathode Silicon nanowires Solution is taking pure Silicon (no graphite) coated in polymer and elastic binder to make a powder that this then coated onto the copper foil using Maxwell process. Elasticity required because the Silicon expands. Cathode Novonix DPMG granules Dry electrode from Maxwell - allows thicker cathode? Single crystal cathode (Dahn) Cobalt free Sila Transition metal free SilLion nickel rich NMC Solution is taking (Lithium and high nickel content with novel coatings and dopants) powder and coating onto the foil (made of aluminium) using Maxwell process. Manufacture Hibar Cell to pack - In fact cell to structure 4070 size (or bigger) - 4680 Tesla mining Tabless electrode Plate cooling Transformation of core structural design of the vehicle (giga casting? heat sink? cell to chassis?)
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1310003337752801280 Suppliers. We’re only doing high energy nickel ourselves, at least for now. Also, maybe the presentation wasn’t clear that we’ve actually had our cells in packs driving cars for several months. Prototypes are trivial, volume production is hard.
It's important for anyone looking at lithium supply investments, to know the high nickel chemistry requires lithium hydroxide not carbonate. Lithium carbonate can be further refined to hydroxide, but it is almost always a lot simpler, less energy intensive and cheaper to go straight to hydroxide. As such it is also important to know only certain lithium deposits lend themselves well to going straight to hydroxide . Note: this is an area I have been researching the last couple weeks, but am by no means an expert. If there is an expert on this forum, please do correct me.
Jordan thinks Tesla could mix graphite with Silicon on the anode. Why not go with 100% Silicon but then only use a fraction of it's capacity and therefore much reduced expansion problems? Also, Jordan thinks that the charging time could be halved!
Elon talks her at the 12 min mark of an almost pure nickel anode. Can anyone explain? Did he mean Cathode? Surely the Cathode is also laden with a lot of Lithium. He goes onto talk about a high Silicon anode which is what I expect.
Tesla isn't the only one with a pure silicon Anode:- I'm slightly swayed by some of his arguments, the engineering and battery talent working for the company would be worth acquiring. The Silicon Anode process is different, for such a key component, 2 solutions, are better than one. But Tesla could also license the ENEVATE tech as others are doing, licensing would be cheaper than an acquisition, before considering an acquisition, make sure it works, and is better than what Tesla already has... The video is also a useful recap on the benefits of pure silicon. One thought I do have is Tesla's current solution might exceed 1,000 cycles, if Tesla already has a longer lasting battery, the ENEVATE solution is not so useful.