Tesla has released a new video with new images of its battery cell production in Fremont, California, as it seeks to hire more people to replicate production lines in new plants in Germany and Texas.
Tesla 4680 battery cell
On Battery Day in September 2020, Tesla unveiled its new 4680 battery cell and how it plans to manufacture the largest, tableless cell – something the automaker hasn’t tried to do before.
Although Tesla has already been involved in the development of new battery cells, the automaker has always relied on suppliers, such as Panasonic, to produce the cells for its electric vehicles.
But in order to create a larger cell format with more energy capacity and reduce costs, Tesla had to design new manufacturing processes and rethink the production of battery cells.
In unveiling its new cells, Tesla said it will increase energy density five times and power six times, while cutting the cost per kWh in half.
Tesla battery production
At the event, Tesla confirmed that it is already producing the cells in low volume at a “pilot plant” in Fremont.
Although it is just a “pilot plant”, Tesla still intends to have an annual production capacity of 10 GWh at the facility, which would produce more cells than many battery factories worldwide.
The automaker intends to reach this production capacity by the end of the year and use its knowledge acquired in the line, which consists of many new manufacturing machines designed internally by Tesla, to implement a much greater production capacity of battery cells in new plants.
As we reported earlier, Gigafactory Berlin should be Tesla’s first site for the complete production of 4680 battery cells.
Tesla is currently planning to deploy up to 250 GWh the production capacity of battery cells at the factory.
Tesla is now releasing new images of battery cell production at its pilot plant in Fremont:
With the new images, Tesla is promoting its contracting mini-site for battery manufacturing and encouraging people to apply for new jobs in Berlin and Texas, where Tesla also plans to produce new battery cells.
The automaker writes:
To achieve the transition to sustainable energy, we must produce more affordable EVs and energy storage, while building factories more quickly and with much less investment. The key to this is the production of terawatt-scale batteries and much more affordable battery cells.
Tesla is looking to hire engineering, manufacturing, materials, equipment and cell operations challenges in order to create a “vertically integrated team”.
Instead of posting job listings, Tesla encourages people to submit their resumes directly through this minisite.
However, we previously reported that Tesla started listing jobs for its first full-scale battery cell plant.
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