Tesla will soon have a massive advantage over its rivals in sourcing batteries. According to an official statement, the factory would soon enable Tesla to lower its battery CapEx per GWh by 70% compared to the rest of the industry.
There have been many expectations and missed deadlines with Tesla’s new 4680 batteries. One of the former is helping Tesla cut down its production costs. The company has hinted at the significance of the cut as it discusses its new battery plant in Giga Texas.
During Q1 2023 Earnings Call, Tesla’s SVP of Powertrain and Energy Engineering, Drew Bagliano, shared updates on the new battery. He reminded the crowd of Tesla’s announcement on 2020’s Battery Day to reduce the price of its cars through the battery. The factory is now halfway through construction and, once completed, would cut CapEx by 70% compared to typical cell plants. Part of the gain comes from the structural packaging of the battery cells.
According to Bagliano, “For the cell factory, the Texas 4680 factory is partway through building and commissioning and selling and operating will be 70% lower CapEx per gigawatt hour than typical cell factories when fully ramped, in line with what we described on Battery Day.”
Tesla has completed half of the equipment installation and 75% of utilities in the cathode building in the factory.
Bagliano also revealed that Tesla is already working with a more manufactural version than what was revealed in 2020.
