Tesla’s Elon Musk is looking to crack the code for making better, cheaper batteries as he faces ambitious targets to boost car production.
The automaker is recruiting Chinese and Korean materials suppliers to help lower the cost and boost the energy of its newest battery cells, even as the company struggles with battery-related performance and production issues that have helped delay the launch of its futuristic Cybertruck, according to people familiar with the plans.
Tesla has tapped China's Ningbo Ronbay New Energy and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing to help trim materials costs as it ramps up production of 4680 battery cells in the United States, according to the sources, who asked not to be named.
The details of these arrangements have not previously been reported.
If the automaker is able to work out the performance and process kinks and meet its ambitious production targets, the 4680 ultimately could be the linchpin - rather than choke point - in CEO Musk's dream of building 20 million vehicles annually by 2030.
Neither Tesla nor Musk could be reached for comment.
As part of its efforts, Tesla also has signed a deal with Korea's L&F to supply high-nickel cathodes that could increase the energy density of its 4680 cells, one of the sources said.
The automaker aims to augment its own output with 4680 cells from Korea's LG Energy Solution and Japan's Panasonic - an insurance policy to secure future EV production, two of the sources said. LG and Panasonic are expected to supply cells for Cybertruck, one of the sources said.
A shortage of batteries means "the factories stall," Musk told investors in early March.
The new battery is expected to play a key role in the launch later this year of the edgy, stainless-steel Cybertruck, the company's first new model in more than three years.
Tesla had considered three battery options to ensure that launch is not delayed again: smaller 2170 cells used widely in other Tesla models, 4680 cells and less-expensive lithium iron phosphate cells, but the EV maker favored waiting until the 4680 cells are ready, the sources said.
Details about Tesla's Cybertruck battery strategy, including use of 4680 cells and consideration of other options, have not been reported.
In 2022, Musk said he did not expect 4680 batteries would be a "limiting factor for Cybertruck or anything else."
The Tesla-designed 4680 cell - so named for its external dimensions (46mm diameter, 80mm length) - is crucial to future production plans. The battery cell is 5.5 times larger than the 2170 cell it replaces, and is designed to store five times the energy while delivering 16 percent more driving range.
Tesla intends to make versions at factories in Texas, California, Nevada and Berlin for use in vehicles from Model Y to Cybertruck, the sources said.
But Tesla is still struggling to ramp up the first wave of production, Musk acknowledged at Tesla's investor day on March 1.