Image: Wall Street Journal
Tesla has developed a new standard for battery cells—4680—and now its suppliers are looking to develop this cell in order to benefit from a possible deal with the manufacturer in the future. On Monday, Panasonic unveiled a prototype 4680 battery designed for Tesla standards.
Panasonic showed off its 4680 cylindrical battery for the first time on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new battery format has been in development since Tesla unveiled its new cell at Battery Day in 2020, with the goal of reducing manufacturing costs while improving battery quality. Panasonic has been developing its 4680 cell for a year, and in the early summer of 2021, its new President and Chief Executive Officer Yuki Kusumi stated that the company will make a “large investment” in the production of new battery cells for Tesla and other EV manufacturers.
Kazuo Tadanobu, the head of Panasonic's energy business, spoke during a media roundtable on October 25, and said that at this stage the company is already preparing for commercialization in the near future. “We’ve got the technology under our belts now, and we’re moving ahead with preparations for commercialization soon,” he said.
Panasonic plans to start test production of the 4680 battery cells in Japan by March 2022, Mr. Tadanobu said. He described the product as tailor-made to Tesla’s requirements and said Panasonic planned to supply it to Tesla, but he declined to give other details.
© 2021, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
