Tesla has focused on squeezing as much power as possible out of its batteries, with industry-leading range figures that have surpassed its opponents by dozens of kilometre per charge. Now it has its eyes set on a distinct goal which is building batteries that cannot only beat competitors’ range or how far their cars can travel on a single charge but to outlast the life span of a single-vehicle.

It’s the most advanced innovation prompted by the Silicon Valley car builder that has strived to rewrite the rules on electric vehicles and make them performance-oriented, aspirational in a way that has eluded competitors. Electric car vehicles constitute a small slice of the overall car market therefore for Tesla to expand, it will need to reign supreme over not only the manufacturing of vehicles but also their lifeblood which are batteries.

    

    Image Source: The Economic Times

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans for tackling that issue at a widely awaited event called Battery Day event. Tesla rather sought to set its future agenda and set its goal to build a $25,000 mass-market electric car.

The yet-unnamed offering would see its cheaper price tag supported by battery technology improvements and efficiency such as the capacity to more densely pack battery cells into Tesla’s vehicles. Tesla would exert control over the entire battery supply chain, from base battery materials to the building of battery cells, to their installation directly into Tesla’s cars.Tesla aims to recycle old battery materials.

In an interview, Elon Musk stated that we must produce more EVs which need to be affordable and [have] a lot more energy storage while building factories faster and with very less investment.

He also announced Tesla’s objective to build 20 million cars per year which is far greater compared to its current output of mere hundreds of thousands. How to achieve that?

Musk also added that we thought through every element of the battery. For example, Musk stated Tesla would build its cathode plant to supply a crucial component for electric vehicle batteries that includes some of the more resource-intense mining. It would base its future fleet around a new cell which it calls the 4680 that would give 16 percent more range, along with power and energy outputs that are multiples times higher than today’s batteries are capable of providing. It would pack the new components more densely into its vehicles which will making the battery itself a dual use part of Tesla vehicles’ frame rather than a supplemental component adding weight.

Musk stated that they aim to build afforable electric car which will be availabe for the public in three years with a price tag of $25000 that will be fully autonomous too.

Musk also announced one new offering which he called the Model S Plaid, that would carry the longest range of any Tesla to date. The variant, which comes in at $140,000, is expected to carry a 520-mile range and travel from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than two seconds. It wouldn’t be ready until late 2021.