30% increase in energy density in three years Tesla needs to reduce costs

Mr Musk says battery volume and energy density could increase by 30 % in two to three years, and production costs could fall to $100 per kilowatt-hour, which would greatly reduce the cost of electric vehicles.

According to the auto news website Electrek, at the Tesla shareholders meeting last week, Musk rarely used the word "breakthrough" to describe the company's battery technology and the progress made in terms of cost. Musk said that in two to three years The battery volume energy density can be increased by 30%, and the production cost can also be reduced to 100 US dollars per kWh, which will greatly reduce the cost of electric vehicles.

The Tesla shareholders meeting last week sent a lot of messages about how the company operates, develops and plans, but one important message doesn't seem to attract enough attention. On the whole, ElonMusk, the CEO, was very cautious in describing the progress made in Tesla's battery technology and did not use the word "breakthrough". But last week, when he talked about the latest improvements in Tesla's battery energy density and production costs, Musk used the term "breakthrough."

Musk even gave some specific figures on the cost of the Tesla battery, which is understood to have a $100 per kilowatt-hour target. If this is achieved, the cost of electric cars will match the price of conventional fuel cars, making Tesla's electric cars more competitive.

Tesla has been careful to disclose battery costs, and chief technology officer Straubel re-emphasized this at the shareholders 'meeting. Mr Straubel said: "It is difficult to give precise cost figures. This is a very difficult topic, but we still believe that we have the best price and the best performance in the world. I don't know if there are any better products yet, and we're doing our best to find them. We tried to talk to every battery startup, lab, and big battery manufacturer, and we got an offer from them, and we tested their battery units. If there is a better product, we are willing to listen, we want to find it, but so far, we still have nothing. "

However, at the shareholders 'meeting, Musk released more details on Tesla battery technology and costs. "I think we 've got some pretty good breakthroughs in battery energy density and production costs, and these breakthroughs are pretty big," Mr Musk said after a review. "

Musk said that if commodity prices stabilized in the next few months, Tesla is expected to achieve the goal of reducing the cost of battery cells to $100 per kWh by the end of the year.

In stark contrast, GM is buying battery units from LG chemistry for a Chevrolet Bolt electric car for $145 per kilowatt-hour. Audi said the cost of purchasing batteries for the unlisted e-tronquatro electric car would be $114 per kilowatt-hour.

With regard to the cost of batteries, Mr Musk said the average cost of a whole battery pack could be reduced to $100 per kilowatt-hour in less than two years. If existing battery technology proves reliable and "mass-produced," Tesla can achieve a 30 % increase in volume energy density in two to three years, Mr Musk adds.

If the volumetric energy density of the battery product really gets this increase, then now the Tesla Model S and ModelX 100kWh batteries can be replaced with 130kWh batteries, and the single-charge range of these models exceeds 400 miles (about 644 kilometers).

Electrek comments

Since Tesla released the semi-trailer truck, we have said that the initial pricing of Semi trucks between 15 and 180,000 depends to a large extent on the breakthrough of battery costs. And Musk's latest statement is in line with our expectations.

It seems that Teslabe Gigafactory is now achieving results and battery costs are decreasing. And if the production cost of the battery unit can be reduced to $100 per kWh before the end of this year, it will also help Model3 achieve its initial price of $35,000.

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