As Tesla Battery Day approaches, Elon Musk hints at major capacity increases

CNET ^ | Aug. 25, 2020 8:29 a.m. PT | Sean Szymkowski

[PA Engineer]

Thanks for the link. I'm impressed. It is as if we are going full circle with a radically improved Edison cell hybrid. The architecture of the cell, dry production and anode cathode materials are key take aways. I was unable to watch the entire presentation, however I was under the impression silicon and nickel were the primary cell components.

Please correct me if I was misinformed about this.

[SunkenCiv]

Not sure we got all the info we might like from Musk et al. Reducing heavy metals in battery design is clearly important to them, but they also spoke of the acquisition of mining rights for lithium in a large clay-based deposit in Nevada. The use of silicon nanofibers was also speculated on but not confirmed by them.

[Moonman62]

I was surprised at the estimate of how much the production line will shrink in terms of plant footprint, that could (not necessarily would) mean battery plants going in rubblefields/tax holiday sites up here in the rust belt.

...

I don’t think so. Tesla plans to grow at least 50% a year for the next 10 years. Even with the increases in productivity, they will to struggle to make enough batteries and that includes increases in orders from the battery makers who supply them now.

[Moonman62]

$25,000 car in 3 years.

OMG... is that possible?

...

The last time Musk promised a $35,000 car it didn’t happen. But this time may be different. A smaller version of the Cybertruck would save some money with its unpainted origami sheet metal. Integrated batteries and large stamped parts will bring costs down, too, along with hundreds of cost saving tweaks. The problem is the resulting car will be unrepairable if it’s in an accident. However, if self driving works, then there should be many fewer accidents.