Samsung SDI has decided to make its new batteries the same size as the Tesla 4680

The traction battery market has already passed the stage of development when it was possible to endlessly experiment with the cell sizes used.
Samsung SDI first wanted to increase the diameter of its cylindrical lithium batteries to 40 mm, but now Korean sources say that the reference point is the diameter of similar cells from Tesla, which reaches 46 mm.Image source: Samsung SDI If you consider that the cylinder height was originally supposed to be 80 mm, then Samsung SDI can achieve full unification in size with the cylindrical cells 4680, which begin producing Tesla and its close partner, Panasonic.
However, LG Energy Solution is also experimenting with the creation of such batteries, so all three third-party manufacturers could eventually become suppliers of cells like 4680 to the Tesla assembly line.According to Business Korea, Samsung SDI now produces cylindrical lithium batteries in two sizes: 2170 and 1865, where the first two digits define the diameter of the cylinder and the second two define its height in millimeters.
Work on the standardization of the third size is coming to an end, and Samsung SDI is inclined to choose the diameter of 46 mm as a basis.
What will be the height of the cylinder, has not yet been decided, but for the purpose of unification, it will probably reach 80 mm, inherent in the products of Tesla, Panasonic and LG Energy Solution.According to SNE Research, now the cylindrical batteries account for 19% of the traction battery market, but by 2030 they will reach 26%.
The alternatives are either prismatic hard-shell batteries or packaged soft-shell batteries.
Samsung SDI is going to ramp up production of cylindrical-shaped batteries at its facilities in South Korea and Malaysia.

Panasonic sent Tesla first samples of battery cells type 4680

Japanese corporation Panasonic was originally Tesla's partner in traction battery production in Nevada, now their joint venture is capable of producing batteries with a combined capacity of 39 GW‧h annually.
The pilot production of new cells type 4680 in Japan has already yielded the first samples of batteries, which were sent to Tesla for further testing.Image source: TeslaWhat emphasizes Reuters with reference to comments from representatives of Panasonic, mass production of cells type 4680 will start at the enterprise in Japan after March next year.
In May of the current year the Japanese company managed to start mass production of prototypes of these cells that will be sent to the USA for the needs of Tesla.
In the future, Panasonic is considering organizing their production in the United States.
Rumors mention the states of Kansas and Oklahoma as the closest places to Tesla's facility in Texas, where the new Panasonic plant will be located.
Experts from the Japanese company were actively involved in the development of a new type of cell, which due to its increased size will make traction batteries cheaper with a simultaneous increase in capacity.For Tesla, the transition to the use of cells type 4680 is of strategic importance.
Such batteries should be used in the electric Cybertruck pickup and Semi truck, and now the Model Y crossovers with a new power structure of the body are already equipped with them at the plant in Texas.
Production of such crossovers will be set up in Germany, but so far the Model Y local assembly uses a transitional design with a battery based on 2170-size cells.
Tesla plans to organize independent production of cells of 4680 type not only in Texas, but also in Germany.The representatives of Panasonic said that car business should increase its share in the total revenue of the corporation from 14 to 19% by March of the next year.
Overall, global car production will have to return to pre-pandemic levels by then, but shortages of semiconductor components will persist after that.
Panasonic intends to partially compensate the growth of battery production costs by increasing prices for its products.

Tesla's body-integrated battery can be replaced, but half of the car must be disassembled

One of the most popular Tesla electric cars, the Model 3 sedan contains three to four thousand type 2170 cylindrical battery cells, and replacing even a few and the associated diagnostics is a long and costly undertaking.
However, after the transition to the battery integrated into the power structure of the body, the situation is exacerbated by the fact that to replace it you have to disassemble half of the car.Image source: TeslaSuch revelations are shared by the resource Electrek with reference to the already available employees of corporate services for repair of electric cars Model Y new sample.
Recall that in parallel with the transition to the use of battery cells of size 4680, the company expects to introduce a traction battery, integrated into the power frame of the lower part of the body.
This arrangement may be more advantageous from a performance standpoint, but when repairing the battery, you would have to do at least 143 consecutive manipulations just to remove it.
Putting the battery back in place would require another 171 manipulations, and in the process of repairing almost the entire lower part of the body will be separated from the rest, along with the front seats.Image source: Tesla, ElbrickIt may make traction battery repair more difficult and more expensive, but in terms of manufacturing the new electric car will achieve up to 10% weight savings and increase range by 14%.
At the same time, the number of necessary parts will be reduced by 370 pieces.
Model Y crossovers with the new body structure will be produced at Tesla's recently opened facilities in Texas and Berlin, but the German site will temporarily use 2170-size cells before switching to 4680 cells.

Tesla Supercharger stations are now available in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Austria to charge any electric vehicle

Tesla is expanding the presence of \"open\" Supercharger charging stations in Europe - not only Tesla electric vehicles, but also traction batteries of other manufacturers' cars can be charged at them.
While previously a similar program operated at some Supercharger stations in the Netherlands, Norway and France, now Tesla charging stations have become available to everyone in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Austria.Image source: johnjakob/pixabay.comSince last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked about expanding the program to charge any electric vehicles at Tesla stations in the United States, but how the project will be implemented is not yet reported.
There, local Superchargers use Tesla proprietary ports, while Europe uses the CCS2 standard, which supports most local electric vehicles - in accordance with local laws.
What's more, North American electric vehicles, for the most part, have CCS1 charging ports, and variants like the Nissan Leaf have CHAdeMO charging ports.Residents of European countries participating in the pilot program can find compatible charging stations in the Tesla app.
If a user owns both a Tesla and another electric vehicle, they can search the app for the right Supercharger for each type.
In addition to the electricity fee, owners of third-party vehicles will have to pay an additional fee, which is also listed in the app.

Elon Musk met with Indonesia's president to discuss cooperation on nickel mining and processing

Indonesia, with its impressive nickel reserves, has been a focus for Tesla's leadership before, but in previous phases of negotiations the parties were unable to reach a compromise.
The government was interested in developing complex production facilities on its territory, and Tesla wanted them to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Negotiations continued during the Indonesian president's visit to Texas.Image source: Laily Rachev, ReutersJoko Widodo visited Tesla headquarters last Saturday, according to Reuters, meeting with Elon Musk to discuss possible investments and high-tech cooperation.
The preliminary stage of negotiations had been held earlier and also discussed investment in the mining industry in Indonesia, which specializes in nickel, used in the manufacture of traction batteries for electric cars.
This year, the price of nickel has skyrocketed, and Tesla was forced to preventively raise the price of electric cars by thousands of dollars.Before that, according to a source, Tesla representatives visited Indonesia for talks on investment in traction battery production.
It should be said that Tesla's competitors are already actively exploring this territory.
LG Energy Solution and CATL have agreed to invest $9 billion each in facilities to produce lithium batteries in Indonesia, and Hyundai Motor will assemble electric cars in this country based on batteries of the Korean partner.The President of Indonesia also visited the SpaceX launch pad in Texas because he is also interested in cooperation with Elon Musk in the aerospace industry.
Earlier he offered the billionaire to use Indonesia to launch spacecraft.
At the moment, it is not reported that any contracts were signed after the meeting between Ilon Musk and Joko Widodo.

Tesla electric cars began warning owners about periods of peak power consumption

The Texas power system became infamous last February, when unprecedented cold windy weather in the area left not only a significant portion of residential neighborhoods, but also a number of manufacturing plants without power.
This year, Tesla electric cars began warning their owners in Texas that during periods of peak energy consumption it is better not to charge them.Image source: TeslaIt is known that some time ago not only Tesla CEO Elon Musk moved to Texas, but also the company's headquarters.
Next door in Austin, a new Tesla Model Y assembly plant was built and recently started operating.
For the foreseeable future it will be ready to put Semi trucks, Cybertruck pickups, second-generation Roadster sports car and even Optimus (Tesla Bot) humanoid robots on the assembly line.
In all likelihood, Tesla will also assemble robotic cabs here, so integrating the business into the local energy system is a crucial task for the company.As Electrek explains, Tesla is actively building stationary electricity storage facilities in Texas, which will help level out seasonal fluctuations in consumption.
Solar panels and residential electricity storage systems are being installed in residential neighborhoods.
One car owner on the pages of Reddit confessed that his Tesla electric car issued a recommendation to avoid charging between the hours of 3 p.m.
and 8 p.m.
in the coming days.
It echoes exactly the recommendations of the local electric regulator, which, in light of the approaching hot season, urged Texans to limit their energy use during this time of day.
The other day, a spike in power consumption on the local power grid has already caused an emergency shutdown of six generating facilities.
At the same time, citizens were advised to set thermostats in their homes to 26 degrees Celsius or higher.

Tesla will recall 130,000 electric cars due to problems with AMD Ryzen processors overheating during fast charging

Tesla announced a recall of 130,000 cars due to a problem with the electric cars' infotainment system processor.
During fast charging of electric cars processors can overheat, which leads to malfunction or complete shutdown of touch screen displays of cars.Image source: bixusas/pixabay.comThe owners of cars will not have to give them to dealers or Tesla itself.
The manufacturer began distributing \"over the air\" firmware updates for electric cars affected by the defect - these include the Model 3 and Model Y 2022, as well as Model X and Model S 2021 and 2022.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), during the fastest charging or preparing for fast charging the CPU infotainment system \"may not cool enough to prevent heating to higher than expected temperatures, which can lead to slow down the CPU or pedal.
As a result, the central display may be delayed or the image may disappear completely.
The manufacturer has not yet explained what exactly caused the problem or how the software update will solve it.
According to some reports, the problem has something to do with preparing batteries for Supercharger charging stations.According to NHTSA, the problem can prevent owners from using rearview cameras, using the touchscreen display and even prevent the optimization of the wipers because of the inability to use the setting from the touchscreen display.
While it is not yet known how widespread the problem is, NHTSA reports that Tesla has already recorded 59 such cases, as well as reports of actual accidents potentially related to the problem.
There is no information yet on injuries or deaths related to the glitch.Tesla began shipping electric cars last year with AMD Ryzen chips for infotainment systems, but it is not yet known if the new processor is causing the problem at all.
Earlier this year, some drivers noted a slight decrease in the range of electric cars equipped with Ryzen compared to older Tesla models with Intel Atom chips.Tesla has previously announced recalls of electric cars several times, including in cases where they could not be brought up to speed with an over-the-air software update.

So far, Tesla has received only a small fraction of its batteries for recycling from customer vehicles

Tesla co-founder JB Straubel believes that over time, the electric car industry will be able to fully support itself with raw materials for making traction batteries from recycled sources.
Tesla has been working hard to expand battery recycling, but so far the amount of end-of-life batteries it gets from customers is limited.Image source: TeslaAlready in 2020, as Electrek reminds us, the company reached a recycling rate of 92 percent of the original volume of raw materials.
That year Tesla managed to get 1,300 tons of nickel, 400 tons of copper and 80 tons of cobalt from recycled sources.
Tesla's recently released environmental report states that in 2021 the company received 1,500 tons of nickel, 300 tons of copper and 200 tons of cobalt from recycled sources.
Increases were seen in all areas except copper.
By the end of 2021 the company reached a recycling capacity of 50 tons of material per week.It is noteworthy that batteries from cars of ordinary car owners hardly ever make it to the recycling service.
Batteries from electric cars with high mileage, operated both by third-party cab services and by Tesla itself, are mostly sent for recycling.
Most of the batteries that end up in recycling are received by the company from its own divisions, which are responsible for battery quality control or engaged in experimental work.
In fact, these batteries don't even end up in the hands of customers, but go straight to recycling.
As a reminder, Tesla partially recycles battery packs used in electric vehicles to create stationary energy storage systems.