Tesla's Dry Cathode 4680 Battery Cells Will Mean Cheaper, Better EVs

Not a Tesla App

During the 2024 Shareholder Meeting, Elon Musk announced that Tesla has made new innovations on the 4680 cell standard. Tesla has been working hard for several years to get a functional 4680 cell in production that either matches or beats the performance of the existing 2170 cell. The official Cybertruck account also shared an image (below) of the first 4680 dry-cathode process Cybertruck with its production crew on X.

We’re going to take a bit of a dive into the 4680, what exactly this new process and cell is, and then some of its possible advantages. So, grab your charging cable!

First prototype Cybertruck with in-house dry cathode 4680 cells – making it an all dry electrode vehicle pic.twitter.com/NzJxKQrRBp

— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) August 2, 2024

What is the Dry Process?

Dry Battery Electrode (DBE) is a different process overall from the current Wet Battery Electrode (WBE) that is common today. This dry process removes the highly toxic solvents and furnace baking processes from the equation, saving both time and space, while also being environmentally friendly.

The Dry Cathode we’re talking about specifically means that the electrode – the conducting terminal at the edges of the battery – is produced in a dry process. In the previous process, it was produced with a wet process.

Tesla’s 4680 cell suppliers – LG and Panasonic – have both been working hard to cut down on costs and ramp up their own 4680 cell production while Tesla works on their own internal improvements as well. If Tesla has found a means to easily scale the Dry Cathode method, it’ll make 4680 cells and the batteries that they are a part of - cheaper to produce.

The 4680 Cell

The 4680 cell - 46mm wide, 80mm tall

Not a Tesla App

Tesla has used the 4680 cells to make structural battery packs for the Model Y. However, these vehicles had poor charging performance and lower energy density, and they were quickly removed from sales. The sheer size of the 4680 cell made it difficult to cool, limiting its performance.

The updated 4680 cell was announced at the November 2023 Earnings Call as Cybercell, making a comeback for the Cybertruck. This new version was going to have better energy density, as well as improved charging performance.

Sandy Munro of Teardown Titan fame showed that this improved version has about a 12% energy density increase, a pretty significant improvement. You can watch his teardown of the Cybertruck below.

Tabless Design

The tabless design of the 4680 cell also has an impact on its production, and how easy it is to manufacture. Think of the tabs as the little nubs on the top of a regular small battery. The lack of tabs means that production of the cell body doesn’t have to pause to add the tabs, reducing the chance for defects with the elimination of a process, and making it faster to boot.

Removing the tab also helps in cutting down the distance that electrons have to travel to get in and out of the cell – this means less resistance, and less energy lost in the process, increasing overall vehicle efficiency.

Advantages

This new 4680 cell process has a few advantages – including an overall cost reduction of up to 50% compared to the current wet process. That’s in addition to the dry process being more environmentally friendly, which will also allow for manufacturing of the cell to scale quicker.

Tesla wants to move from the standard 2170 cell to the 4680 cell for several reasons. The biggest, by far, is cost savings. The 4680 cell is physically a bigger cell and can be used to structurally support the vehicle, meaning cost savings on both, the production of the 4680 cell and the structure of the vehicle.

Easy and Cheap

There’s more too – the 4680 cell will be easier to manufacture because of its bigger size. The 2170 cell is tall and thin, while the 4680 cell is wide and stout. In addition, its unique tab-less design is supposed to generate less resistance, improving charging speeds and cell performance.

Essentially, Tesla can fill the space taken up by 4,400 2170 cells with only 960 4680 cells. This results in a significant reduction in the material used to encase each individual cell, thereby saving space and maximizing energy density for the space the battery pack takes up.

All in all, that could mean a future price drop for the Cybertruck as well as increase the rate of production. Tesla has envisioned producing approximately 250,000 Cybertrucks per year, and they’ll need a lot of 4680 battery packs to do so.

In the future, we can see Tesla bringing the 4680 cell with all these improvements - and more - to the rest of its vehicle lineup, as they will eventually surpass the 2170 cell technology.

Follow

Follow

Follow

Musk Confirms Robotaxi on Track for June, More Cities Coming, Customer-owned Cars in 2026

Not a Tesla App

Tesla signaled its intention to launch its first Robotaxi network in Austin, Texas, with company-owned and operated vehicles, back in January. This network will be Tesla’s first foray into truly autonomous vehicles - ones that aren’t being directly supervised by a driver. Later in February, Tesla’s executive team confirmed that the plans were on track for the launch of the Austin network both on X and during several interviews that they participated in.

At the end of February, we also found out that Tesla has applied for a Supervised Robotaxi license in California, where the network will also launch, but with safety drivers in place.

This is an ambitious plan, but FSD has really come a long way in the past year. FSD V12 was a massive step forward from V11, and V13 has made the experience smoother and safer than ever before. FSD V14 is expected to be another big step up with auto-regressive transformers and audio input.

Still on Track

Now, Elon has tripled down on the fact that Tesla will be launching their first autonomous robotaxi network in Austin - just two months away at this point. It seems that Tesla is fully set to launch their first fully unsupervised self-driving vehicles that will carry paying passengers in June.

Additional Cities

The best part is that Elon also confirmed that they’re targeting robotaxi networks launching in many cities within the United States by the end of this year. However, remember that this will be a Tesla-run network at first - Tesla owners won’t be able to add their vehicles to the Robotaxi fleet right away.

Adding Customer Vehicles

It will take some time before Tesla meets their strict internal safety requirements before it lets customers add their own vehicles to the network. Tesla’s executive team mentioned that they intend to let owners add their own vehicles to the fleet sometime in 2026. This happens to be the same time frame that Tesla plans to launch the Robotaxi across the United States, Mexico, and Canada — something that could only be done with customer-owned cars.

That final step will be bold—and it may come with complications, especially given that autonomous vehicle approval spans municipal, state or provincial, and even federal levels. There are plenty of regulatory hurdles ahead, but this is undoubtedly shaping up to be one of the most exciting times for Tesla.

Launch Event

With the Robotaxi network launching and Unsupervised FSD just around the corner, there’s a lot to get excited about. Tesla is expected to host a launch event at Gigafactory Texas in Austin to mark the debut of its first Robotaxi network. The company previously hinted that referral code users could receive invites—offering a rare chance to score an early ride in a Robotaxi outside the Hollywood studio lot.

Follow

Follow

Follow

Tesla Mule Model 3 Spotted With Front Bumper Camera

Ready_Medium_6693 on Reddit

Tesla’s engineering mule vehicles—used to test autonomy for future platforms—have resurfaced after an extended absence. The last time we saw them was back in July, when Tesla was gearing up for its initial We, Robot event. Since then, sightings have been scarce.

These vehicles typically signal that Tesla is testing new camera placements or validating FSD ground-truth data. This time, however, they appear to be outfitted exclusively with the updated camera hardware seen on the Cybercab.

New Sightings

The mules have now been spotted in Boston, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire—their first known appearances this far east. This suggests Tesla is actively collecting data to evaluate and optimize FSD performance in new regions. Thanks to Reddit user Ready_Medium_6693 for catching the one in Concord.

Elon Musk recently mentioned that Tesla plans to expand Robotaxi networks beyond the initial Texas and California launches. So while these sightings aren’t entirely unexpected, the speed of their arrival is. It suggests Tesla is confident in its ability to train FSD for local traffic rules and driving behaviors to the point it no longer needs a driver.

Bumper Cameras

The vehicle that’s been spotted in Boston is the usual Tesla engineering Model 3… except with one unique twist. It includes a front bumper camera. Shout out to @Dylan02939106 for catching the bumper camera in these photos.

The Refreshed Model 3 Mule with a Bumper Camera!

@Dylan02939106 on X

We previously released an opinion piece regarding whether the front bumper camera would be required for Unsupervised FSD. In our eyes, Tesla will require a bumper camera for Unsupervised FSD - if only to improve direct visibility in the bumper area of the vehicle. This is key for low-speed maneuvering in crowded areas like parking lots and garages, as well as for key features like Actually Smart Summon. 

It isn’t surprising that Tesla is continuing to evaluate vehicles with a bumper camera - the Cybertruck, Cybercab, and Refreshed Model Y all have them now - and the rest of the lineup, including the flagship Model S and X, as well as the refreshed Model 3 - were supposed to eventually receive them as well.

With the Model S and Model X set for refreshes this year—and the front bumper camera on this Model 3 looking well-integrated rather than a temporary setup—it seems likely that front bumper cameras will soon become standard across Tesla’s entire lineup.

The Robotaxi Mule in Boston

@Dylan02939106 on X

In fact, Tesla’s newest iteration of the FSD computer has a slot for the Bumper Camera on all AI4/HW4 vehicles, so a future retrofit could even be possible.

These are some pretty exciting times - we may see Robotaxi networks actually deploy in time for Tesla’s lofty goal of “sometime in 2026” for cities throughout North America. Once many American cities begin to accept their deployment, it will be easier to seek homologation in Mexico and Canada, enabling deployment throughout the continent.

Follow

Follow

Follow