The hype around Tesla’s Battery Day event is extremely high, but can Tesla live up to it?
Let’s look into it.
Tesla Battery Day hype
The fact that the event has been delayed several times has contributed to the hype. It was first announced at Tesla’s Autonomy Day last year and slated to happen “early in 2020.”
Then, the event was delayed several times.
At first, it was for unclear reasons. Later, it was delayed due to the pandemic and Tesla’s desire to hold the event with people in attendance.
But no one is more responsible for the hype around Battery Day than Elon Musk.
Musk, who is not one to shy away from superlatives, has described what Tesla plans to announce at Battery Day as “mind-blowing”, “insane”, and even “very insane.”
The CEO also said that “many exciting things” are going to be announced at the event.
It’s hard to have low expectations when the person most knowledgeable about what is to be announced is telling that your mind is going to be blown away.
What we know about Tesla Battery Day
Officially, all Tesla said about Battery Day is that the automaker will explain its plan to secure a massive supply of battery cells to support its ambitious expansion plans.
Furthermore, the company confirmed that it will tour its own battery cell production system, confirming that at least part of the plan involves its own battery cell manufacturing
We previously learned more about this battery manufacturing effort.
Earlier this year, Electrek has exclusively revealed Tesla’s secret “Roadrunner” project, which consists of its in-house designed battery cell manufacturing system to increase production volume and reduce cost.
Tesla built a “Tera battery manufacturing facility” in its facilities on Kato Road next to its factory in Fremont to house the project.
The company plans to deploy volume production in Fremont and at Gigafactory Texas.
What we know less about is the actual battery cells that Tesla will produce at the facility. Last week, we got a first look at Tesla’s new battery cell produced in-house with the Roadrunner system. The battery cell is made in a larger format with a tabless electrode design. It should result in a much higher capacity and lower costs.
However, we don’t know much more about the chemistry of the new cells as Tesla has been working on several different approaches when it comes to intellectual property and research related to battery chemistry. Everything points to Tesla releasing battery cells with higher energy density, lower cost, and better longevity.
Now, let’s speculate
With Musk saying that “many exciting things” are going to be unveiled, he opened the door for people to speculate about many other things to be unveiled or announced at Battery Day. Tesla Model S Plaid is the most likely, in my opinion.
Musk said that the vehicle, which is going to be the new highest performance version of the electric sedan with a tri-motor powertrain, should be unveiled in the summer of 2020.
When we first reported on Tesla Roadrunner, we noted that Tesla planned to bring a Model S Plaid with the unveiled of the project on Battery Day, but that was before the event was delayed. Since then, we have learned more about Tesla’s Palladium project, which includes more modifications to Model S and Model X.
Tesla could release more updates to the two vehicle programs on Battery Day.
We are hoping for Tesla’s long-delayed interior refresh, but that project has been delayed for over a year now. I hear that some people are also hoping for possible updates on Tesla Semi and the new Roadster. The chances of that happening are lower in my opinion, but not impossible.
I expect Tesla to announce what those new cells are going to enable. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have an impact on those two vehicle programs.
Tesla Battery Day: When and where?
Tesla’s 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on Tuesday, September 22, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. PT. The Battery Day presentation will follow after the shareholders’ meeting, which should last between one to two hours.
You can join us on Electrek all day tomorrow for our coverage of the event and everything that is announced. We are going to post the livestream as soon as it is available.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
