Cheaper electric cars on the cards as Panasonic starts testing production of new batteries

[Hanno Labuschagne]

Cheaper electric cars on the cards as Panasonic starts testing production of new batteries

Panasonic Corp. is renovating a facility in Japan to start testing mass production of a new type of lithium-ion battery that’s championed by Tesla Inc. as the key to unlocking cheaper electric vehicles.

Panasonic will start test production of a next-generation “4680” battery at a facility in Japan’s western Wakayama Prefecture, Chief Financial Officer Hirokazu Umeda said Wednesday at a briefing on the company’s quarterly financial results. The company will also set up a prototype production line for the batteries early this year in Japan.

After the testing, a new mass production line will be set up, likely also in Wakayama, Umeda said.

[Bloomberg]

 

[konfab]

The 4680 batteries — named after their dimensions of a 46-millimeter diameter and 80-millimeter height — hold more than five times the capacity of the smaller 1865 and 2170 cells Panasonic currently supplies to Tesla.

The 4680 battery was first unveiled by Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, at an event in 2020. Musk touted the batteries as a “massive breakthrough” in cell technology that will make it possible for his company to produce EVs that sell for $25,000.'

Lets have a look at the numbers
1865 = (18/2)^2*pi*65 =5265*pi mm^3 in volume
2170 = (21/2)^2*pi*70 = 7717.5*pi mm^3 in volume

The new battery:
4680 = (46/2)^2*pi*80 = 42320*pi mm^3 in volume.

So lets see how much bigger these are in terms of volume:
With the 1865, the new battery is about 8 times bigger in terms of volume.
With the 2170, the new battery is 5.48 times bigger in terms of volume.

So the revolutionary new technology that Elon Musk is talking about, is Panasonic making a bigger battery, with very little difference in terms of capacity.

 

[Syphonx]

Lets have a look at the numbers
1865 = (18/2)^2*pi*65 =5265*pi mm^3 in volume
2170 = (21/2)^2*pi*70 = 7717.5*pi mm^3 in volume

The new battery:
4680 = (46/2)^2*pi*80 = 42320*pi mm^3 in volume.

So lets see how much bigger these are in terms of volume:
With the 1865, the new battery is about 8 times bigger in terms of volume.
With the 2170, the new battery is 5.48 times bigger in terms of volume.

So the revolutionary new technology that Elon Musk is talking about, is Panasonic making a bigger battery, with very little difference in terms of capacity.

So the benefit is using a few large batteries instead of multiple times more small batteries? I can see that being beneficial from a cost and space viewpoint. But sounds like Tesla is hyping up the actual benefits.

 

[konfab]

So the benefit is using a few large batteries instead of multiple times more small batteries? I can see that being beneficial from a cost and space viewpoint. But sounds like Tesla is hyping up the actual benefits.

Fewer larger batteries will have more space between them because they are circular. I just wonder whether the cost payoff will be more than the space payoff.

 

[P924]

Lets have a look at the numbers
1865 = (18/2)^2*pi*65 =5265*pi mm^3 in volume
2170 = (21/2)^2*pi*70 = 7717.5*pi mm^3 in volume

The new battery:
4680 = (46/2)^2*pi*80 = 42320*pi mm^3 in volume.

So lets see how much bigger these are in terms of volume:
With the 1865, the new battery is about 8 times bigger in terms of volume.
With the 2170, the new battery is 5.48 times bigger in terms of volume.

So the revolutionary new technology that Elon Musk is talking about, is Panasonic making a bigger battery, with very little difference in terms of capacity.

I think you are also missing some details - they don't roll up the cell to the center, so you lose a fixed diameter volume in the center of the cell. The can also takes up some volume.

 

[konfab]

I think you are also missing some details - they don't roll up the cell to the center, so you lose a fixed diameter volume in the center of the cell. The can also takes up some volume.

Approximates are the name of the game here. It still isn't super revolutionary in terms of battery technology.

 

[Swa]

No details in the article. Unless they use new types of materials this isn't new or revolutionary tech.