Wrong on many counts. The chassis may be a little stiffer, but not ”much” stiffer. NVH may even be worse. Charging speed will be quite similar nothing like a multiple of times better. No word at all on range degradation or how long they will last, probably very similar to existing 2170 vehicles.
weight will be less, which may improve braking and acceleration, though acceleration could be limited through software. But the difference is going to be about the weight of one person. 95% of owners would not notice.
4680 is about making more cars with fewer resources, which mostly translates into higher profits for Tesla.
This, too, is a bit simplistic. The structural battery pack comes with both front and rear gigacastings, dramatic reductions in parts counts and quite comprehensive suspension redesign as a necessary consequence of these changes. We do not know about the results of all those changes on BMS, NVH or any other acronyms or parameters. All we can responsibly say was presented in the battery day, GigaPress and subsequent pronouncements.
Therefore we know the 4680’s and structural pack combined with gigacastings will reduce costs and improve BMS. We do know the tabless cells improve thermal management, as does the structural pack itself.
Now we have armchair experts claiming faster, slower Supercharging, more, less, same durability. Better/same/worse NVH. Other armchair experts say yes/no/maybe to each question.
That, I think, is a fair summary of our current obsession with Grüneheide/Austin Model Y 4680.
Facts: None of us actually know the answers. Changes as consequential as these in combination with the new GF manufacturing technology cannot be viewed in isolation.
Thus we will have answers when the new technologies arrive, not much before then.
Personally I expect to see better energy efficiency, NVH, construction quality, chassis rigidity and suspension improvement, plus improved Supercharger effectiveness.
Given what I previously said about armchair experts why do I make these claims?
Simple. My first Tesla drive was a 2012 Model S85. Since then I have owned three Teslae. Each was far better than the previous one in all those metrics. 2014 P85DL, 2018 P3D, 2021 Model S Plaid. Wh/mi keeps getting better. The Plaid consumes >10% less than the P3D in roughly identical conditions, I.e. the identical usage patterns over time. Build quality has improved so much that my Plaid had zero defects, Supercharging improves too, not least due to more gradual taper.
I have also discovered that arbitrary measures of merit often are valid in laboratories and theory. Actual results vary, not least due to engineering and design variations. Tesla simply executes in astonishingly efficient ways, thus doing improbable things.
Therefore I conclude that the 4680/gigacastings Model Y will be another home run. We’ll all be surprised again. Then we will all rush to explain how we always knew it.
sorry folks. I guess I’m a cynic today.
Uh, no. If anything it might be slower Supercharging.
