The world’s biggest battery maker says Elon Musk’s 4680 cell ‘is going to fail’

Robin Zeng, the founding father of the world’s largest EV battery firm, says Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s massive guess on 4680 cylindrical cell expertise “goes to fail and by no means achieve success.” Zeng, the chairman of China’s Modern Amperex Know-how (CATL), tells Reuters that when Musk visited China in April, “We had a really massive debate, and I confirmed him. He was silent. He doesn’t know the best way to make a battery.”

Tesla’s “tabless” 4680 cells, that are utilized in a few of its automobiles, together with the Cybertruck, are purported to have “five times” extra vitality capability, and the corporate announced in September it had produced 100 million of them. A current report by The Information stated Musk had given the staff engaged on the batteries an finish of the 12 months deadline to cope with prices and different issues.

CATL batteries, in the meantime, go inside every little thing from Tesla autos in China to Ford EVs in North America just like the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. The corporate focuses on lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP), which typically don’t get as a lot vary as varied cylindrical cell models utilized in many Tesla autos.

Whereas Zeng wasn’t impressed with Musk’s battery data, he thought he was good with chips, software program, {hardware}, and “mechanical issues.”

Zeng additionally commented that Musk’s downside is “overpromising” timelines, which he typically does habitually, particularly concerning Full Self-Driving expertise. “Possibly one thing wants 5 years. However he says two years. I positively requested him why. He informed me he needed to push individuals.”