Tesla reportedly has a secret battery project that aims to deliver the golden egg when it comes to EV batteries – big range for a lower cost.
According to a recent report from Electrek, Tesla’s Roadrunner battery project has been in the works for several months, after the acquisition of Maxwell, and with it the company’s dry electrode technology.
It is believed that for electric vehicles (EVs) to attain price-parity with conventional gas-powered cars, the cost to produce the battery needs to be around $100 per kWh. To reach that price point, the batteries need to have improved energy density.
Improved energy density can be utilized in two different ways by Tesla.
The first is to reduce vehicle prices with the new cheaper, more efficient batteries (less cells + same range = lower cost). The alternative is to use the new efficient batteries with the same amount of cells for greatly improved range.
Tesla has a consistent track record of pushing the boundaries and delivering the longest ranges of any EVs on the market. Their current Tesla Model S Long Range Plus was recently updated to having 627km of range.
Given Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already promised a 1,000km range Roadster and 800km range Cybertruck, it seems fairly obvious which route Tesla is going to take with these batteries.
It is expected that an announcement on this new battery technology could come as soon as April, when Tesla plans on holding a Battery and Powertrain Investor Day at Giga New York.
