Since powering their first vehicle in 2008, Tesla has led the electric mobility revolution by repeatedly reinventing lithium-ion cell technology to simultaneously push EV performance boundaries while making batteries affordable enough for the mainstream. Each new battery generation has enabled Tesla models with longer ranges rivaling gas cars at ever lower costs per mile.
In this guide, we‘ll explore how Tesla‘s relentless tinkering under the hood has given their cars continuously expanding capabilities. You‘ll see how innovations with each cell type allowed Tesla to shatter range and performance expectations for EVs. We‘ll also demystify how changes to size, shape, metals and chemicals boost power and longevity. You‘ll finish this deep dive able to geek out with the best of them discussing the past, present and future of Tesla‘s industry-leading battery tech.
Brief History: Tesla’s Battery Breakthroughs
| Battery Type | Launch Year | Range Added | Model Introduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18650 | 2008 | 244 miles | Roadster Sport |
| 2170 | 2017 | 315 miles | Model 3 |
| 4680 | 2023 | 370 miles* | Cybertruck |
*Projected range increase versus prior generation
While established automakers dabbled with converted gas car platforms modified to barely scrape 100 miles per charge using conventional lithium-ion cells, Tesla reimagined the EV battery from scratch to give their luxury sports car over 200 miles of range. After proving everyone wrong about what battery technology could enable back in 2008, Tesla battery engineers have stayed restless.
Rather than slowly tweaking cell sizes and chemistry blends, they‘ve reinvented the entire cell format with each new clean sheet vehicle platform – pushing range and performance envelope further each time while lowering battery costs to expand their addressable market. Tesla‘s obsession with building a better battery mousektrap continues paying dividends giving their models segment leading capabilities.
Let‘s examine what makes each of Tesla‘s highly engineered proprietary cell generations so special.
18650 Cells – Turning the Industry On Its Head
When Tesla was developing their inaugural EV model, no suitable off-the-shelf lithium-ion cell came close to providing the 200+ miles of range they wanted the Roadster to deliver. So a stealthy Tiger Team worked covertly inside Tesla‘s headquarters to reimagine battery fundamentals.
Rather than modifying standard cylindrical "18650" cells used in laptops, these maverick engineers created entirely custom components and assembly processes. Their from-scratch design unlocked groundbreaking energy density and charge rates despite using similar nickel-cobalt chemistry as commodity cells by meticulously controlling tiny details across four key areas:
This maniacal attention to shaving millimeters off internal dimensions, analyzing positive to negative current flows, and bonding cells securely together is what allowed their battery packs to achieve unprecedented real-world range figures.
When the first Roadsters rocketed past 200 miles between charges in 2008 – easily besting other EVs struggling past 100 – it forced the industry to completely rethink what lithium-ion batteries could enable in terms of mainstream electric mobility. But with production costs still prohibitively high, Tesla battery engineers were already exploring cheaper and better chemistries for higher volume models on their roadmap…
2170 Cells – Lower Costs Unlock Mass Market EVs
By 2015 when Tesla began planning their affordable 200+ mile $35k Model 3, Using over 7000 commodity 18650 cells per car like Roadster packs would be far too expensive to meet their price target. Once again, Tesla battery guru‘s went back to their skunkworks lab to deliver yet another clean sheet cell format that could scale production while boosting performance and lowering cost.
Dubbed the "2170" cell, this new format‘s enlarged surface area increased capacity by over 30% vs 1865. Engineers tweaked the cathode‘s metallic composition, swapping some expensive Cobalt for plentiful Manganese to cut per kWh materials cost substantially. Hundreds of tiny optimizations allowed the 2170 to deliver record-low $/kWh production expense while enabling cars charging faster and driving farther than any rival EV near their prices.
These ambitious innovations delivered everything Tesla needed to make long-range electric mobility affordable and ubiquitous. Despite initial Model 3 production bottlenecks, once their cutting edge Nevada Gigafactory ramped 2170 cell output in 2018 Tesla began showing sustainable profits while rival EV offerings struggled playing catch-up.
Yet with dreams for even higher volume vehicles requiring further cost reductions, Tesla engineers were already planning their next clean sheet cell to continue marching steadily toward lower costs per mile…
4680 Cells – Next-Gen EV Performance Arrives
By 2020 Tesla formally unveiled development of their largest proprietary cell format to date – the "4680" cell. Elon Musk explained how pushing dimensions to their practical limits enabled step-change improvements across every metric. Tesla also methodically crafted the 4680 design and tooling for ultra high speed manufacturing techniques never applied in battery production before.
This battery was engineered like no other – custom built by Tesla themselves to control all materials, components and processes targeting extreme volumes eventually hitting Terawatt-hour scales. Tesla planned to leverage the unparalleled performance traits and future cost reductions promised by 4680 cells to make products enabling sustainable energy dominance across transportation and the grid storage business.
As radical 4680 production methods tame exotic chemistries and stress cell components in unprecedented ways, there have certainly been steep engineering learning curves getting yields and reliability validated for volume production. But as these processes mature over upcoming years, Tesla anticipates hitting cost points making million-mile EVs widely affordable within the decade. No company is better positioned to unleash the promise of next-gen battery tech.
Beyond Lithium: Future Chemistries Hold More Potential
Still in their infancy, lithium-ion batteries offer paths to continue pushing mobility performance boundaries, but battery packs remain among the most expensive EV components. Entirely new chemistries free from lithium‘s constraints show great promise on the horizon.
One emerging battery chemistry rapidly gaining industry interest is sodium-ion, which uses abundant sodium sourced anywhere instead of location-concentrated lithium. Though still early stage, sodium-ion designs match lithium-ion charging rates and cycle life while requiring only widely available, ethical materials. As cell formats and production methods mature, sodium-ion cost models suggest high viability replacing lithium for grid and most transportation applications within 15 years as performance hits key thresholds.
Several manufacturers including CATL and Faradion are already conducting customer evaluations of early sodium-ion EV development cells. Though still at ~60% the density of leading lithium approaches, sodium tech following similar 10-15 year innovation curves could enable compelling cost structure advantages over lithium-ion dominant technologies like Tesla‘s 4680 by the 2030s.
While commercial sodium-ion cells remain scarce and unproven versus lampshade lithium-ions, Tesla‘s tissue of reinventing batteries from first principles positions them better than any company to lead the industry‘s next major battery platform disruption when the time comes. Whenever a dramatically better chemistry like sodium-ion matures enough to surpass lithium-ion as the ideal solution for sustainable-energy vehicles and grids, underestimate Tesla‘s potential to catapult it into the mainstream at scale faster than anyone expects.
The Road Ahead: Why Tesla Will Continue Driving the Future
Over a decade since powering their first vehicle using a world-class in-house designed lithium-ion cell, Tesla keeps finding ways to challenge assumptions of what battery technology can deliver. They‘ve continued doubling down on vertically integrating key components like cells because they understand traditional suppliers lack motivation to take risks pursuing step-function advances.
Tesla‘s latest 4680 cell looks every bit the disruptive innovation that keeps them firmly in the driver‘s seat to tap battery chemistry advancements as future platforms like sodium-ion emerge. With more capacity and lower costs than ever thanks to mastering cell production themselves, Tesla is poised to dominate sustainable electric transport globally. No competitor can match their potent combination of constantly refreshing battery tech paired with beautifully functional vehicle designs optimized around next generation cell capabilities.
While there‘s still much hard work ahead ramping 4680 and future production lines, Tesla battery leadership seems destined to only widen as the world continues transitioning from fossil fuel transport. No other company combines such ambitious vision with proven skills reinventing energy storage foundations to build products enabling societies to flourish sustainably. As rising global middle classes increasingly adopt electric mobility this decade, Tesla looks set to provide an ever-growing share thanks to their continued battery bravado widening the horizons of what electric cars can deliver.
