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tesla's 4680 battery has reached another milestone. on september 15, tesla announced that the 100 millionth 4680 battery officially rolled off the production line. tesla ceo elon musk also sent a message to congratulate his battery team.

three months ago (june 6), tesla announced that the 50 millionth 4680 battery rolled off the production line. it can be said that the output has doubled in just over three months. it is reported that tesla has achieved large-scale production of 4680 batteries in its texas super factory, and plans to further expand production capacity and invest in expansion in the nevada factory to produce electric heavy-duty trucks semi and 4680 batteries, with a battery production capacity of 100gwh.

from a technical perspective, tesla's 4680 battery uses a multi-technology fusion of large cells + full-tab + dry cells. unlike the previous power battery packs that consist of many "small battery" units, the larger size of the 4680 battery can reduce the number of battery units used, reduce the number of battery welding and connectors, thereby reducing battery weight, reducing component costs, and achieving lightweighting of the entire vehicle.

"the 46 series cylindrical battery adopts a tab-free design, and the process steps such as battery cutting and laser welding have undergone significant changes. the process is highly complex, and higher requirements are placed on the accuracy and efficiency of the equipment." a person related to a lithium battery equipment manufacturing company once analyzed the technical bottlenecks in the mass production of 4680 batteries to e company reporters.

despite this, large cylindrical batteries represented by 4680 are becoming one of the technology routes favored by automakers and battery manufacturers. through structural innovation and material systems, large cylindrical batteries can achieve more efficient manufacturing, higher performance, and lower costs to meet the needs of electrification. industry analysts believe that as each company improves its process and runs its production line, the yield of 4680 batteries is expected to continue to improve. as the yield of large cylindrical batteries increases and costs decrease, other automakers are also expected to introduce large cylindrical batteries.

musk said at the end of last year that 2024 will be the year of "4680". many brokerages also stated in their research reports this year that large cylindrical batteries will start the first wave of installation applications from 2024 to 2025.

recently, news about the acceleration of mass production of 4680 batteries has been heard from time to time. on september 9, panasonic energy, a subsidiary of panasonic group, announced that it had completed preparations for mass production of 4680 cylindrical automotive lithium-ion batteries. its wakayama plant in western japan will become the parent plant for the production of 4680 batteries, and the new pilot process will be implemented in other plants around the world. by march 2025, the wakayama plant is expected to have about 400 employees involved in the development and production of next-generation batteries.

on the same day, panasonic energy held a ceremony to mark the end of mass production preparations. a company spokesperson pointed out that the company has sent samples of the 4680 battery to some automakers and intends to start production of the new battery after obtaining approval.

it is reported that the wakayama plant will serve as a pilot so that other panasonic battery plants around the world can carry out 4680 battery-related production in the future. currently, panasonic energy's factories in sumie and umizuka, japan, are producing 2170 cylindrical electric vehicle batteries and 1860 cylindrical batteries respectively.

proofreading: liao shengchao