Tesla will present today new details into its homegrown battery efforts at a “Battery Day” event for shareholders.
Chief Executive Elon Musk offered a few hints at what to expect. In a series of tweets on Monday, Musk said the company will present developments that will have more long-term impact than short-term. Musk said the battery tech to be discussed will not reach high-volume production until 2022, but it will have a place in upcoming models like the Cybertruck, Semi, and the next-generation Roadster.
Musk also noted that Tesla’s battery efforts will only help supplement the cells it’s purchasing from other manufacturers like Panasonic and LG.
“We intend to increase, not reduce battery cell purchases from Panasonic, LG & CATL (possibly other partners too).” Musk tweeted. However, even with our cell suppliers going at maximum speed, we still foresee significant shortages in 2022 & beyond unless we also take action ourselves.”
The CEO also emphasized the difficulty journey ahead for the company in ramping its own battery cell production to scale.
“The extreme difficulty of scaling production of new technology is not well understood,” Musk said in a tweet. “It’s 1000% to 10,000% harder than making a few prototypes. The machine that makes the machine is vastly harder than the machine itself.”
Tesla watchers have speculated that Tesla will show off a battery cell manufacturing process that will offer more efficiency at a lower cost. The company has reportedly been conducting research and development at a facility near its Fremont, Calif. factory.
Battery Day will be mostly a virtual event, except for a few people in attendance.
The Battery Day livestream is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. PT.
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