Photo: Tesla

Tesla has published details of the production of 4680 battery cells in Giga Berlin. While some of the information is hidden, we can get a rough idea of ​​how the new cells will be produced.

Tesla recently changed Giga Berlin's design as part of the current approval process and made some changes to the factory design, including the addition of a battery factory. The company has also provided all documents for public review, as decided by the State Department for the Environment. Thus, we get the opportunity to take a deeper look at what exactly will happen in the battery factory during the production of innovative 4680 tabless battery cells. It is also worth noting that Tesla hid some of the important information, protecting the trade secrets of the production process, so we can only get a general idea.

As part of cell production at Giga Berlin, lithium-ion cells will still be used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems in various locations around the world, said Tesla. At the same time, the company uses new production methods, which result not only in a cell with excellent performance, but also in high savings.

The description says that the produced lithium-ion battery cell is a cylindrical circular cell and consists of anode (copper foil and coating), cathode (aluminum foil and coating), separator (plastic membrane), electrolyte (electrically conductive liquid), and the body.

Anode and cathode components will be produced during the mixing process. After mixing the components of the anode or cathode, they will be applied as a powder coating on a special film coated with a substrate, which significantly distinguishes Tesla battery cells from everyone else in the field. The anode, cathode, and spacers will then be alternately superimposed on each other, curled into a roll and cut off when the desired length is reached. The resulting jelly roll will then be inserted into the metal case.

In the final assembly area, the cells will be filled with a small amount of electrolyte (about 10% of the cell weight). After that, the body is closed with a cap and welded, after which the cell goes to the last stage of production, where the cell is formed. In the process of formation, the cell is put into operation during various temperature modes of loading and unloading. In this zone, the finished cell remains for about 10 days, after which it is ready for use.

According to the published plans, it is initially planned to establish a production capacity to produce 50 gigawatt-hours of cells per year. While this is less than previously planned, it should be enough to produce about 670,000 Model Y or Model 3 per year. Given that at full capacity, Phase 1 of Giga Berlin will produce 500,000 vehicles per year, Tesla will be able to fully supply these cars with batteries, as well as produce batteries for its other factories or energy storage systems.

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