Rumor said that Tesla’s new low priced – $25,000 – “model 2” or whatever it will be called will be produced on GF Shanghai. It will be based on the model 3.
To reduce the cost of the battery pack, which is the most expensive part of the car, the cells will have to be LFP cells. That could mean a somewhat reduced range. That’s not a major issue because most driving is short range. As long as there are plenty of supercharger stalls available!
John D’Orto Said, “they will have to use 4680 cells” because “4680 costs about half of the current cells”
There are several factors that influence the cell costs, and they are cumulative — they may add up to saving half the costs.
But Tesla could sub out the batteries to a Chinese company, and get prices for LFP batteries that are very cost competitive no matter what the format. In fact, CATL could sell Tesla LFP battery packs made with prismatic cells – rectangular ones that are not even cylindrical. I would give even odds that that’s what Tesla will do. Because the LFP prismatic cells are made in huge quantities and are low cost.
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This article talks about the LFP module-less designs, LFP’s low costs and safety, the Chinese IP restrictions on LFP cells untill 2022. Also ESG – Environmental Social Governance.