"Brand new elements" will be built at Giga Berlin, Tesla's German plant.
Brandenburg's Economy Minister announced that the brand new electrical components will be produced at the Gigafactory near Berlin. The information is surprising, because on the latest plans, Tesla stamped a part responsible for the production of elements, although this was originally announced.
German Tesla will have lithium-ion / lithium metal hybrid batteries?
On German TV rbb24, Jörg Steinbach, Brandenburg's economy minister, said the batteries Tesla wants to produce at Giga Berlin "will outshine all existing batteries in electric vehicles." For energy storage, a "completely new technology" will be used, thanks to which cells will be smaller, they will offer a higher energy density, which will lead to ranges of electric vehicles. (a source).
Implicitly: ranges or will they be larger at the current weight of the car. Or else will remain at the current levelbut cars will get thinner and lighter than combustion cars. Today, the heaviest Tesla Model 3 AWD weighs 1,85 tons, of which almost 0,5 tons are batteries. For comparison: Audi RS4 - 1,79 tons, Audi A4 B9 (2020) - 1,52 tons with a 40 TDI engine.
The statements by the Brandenburg Economy Minister are in stark contrast to the recent statements by Audi:
> Audi: Tesla no longer has advantages in batteries, software and autonomy - 2 years
Back to technology: We do not expect the German plant to produce LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells as they offer a lower energy density than the NCA currently used by Tesla. Rather, it will be some sort of NCA, NCM, or NCMA with a very low cobalt content. Perhaps we will be dealing with lithium metal or hybrid lithium ion / lithium metal cells, as described in a laboratory powered by Tesla:
> Tesla patents an electrolyte for lithium metal cells without an anode. Model 3 with a real range of 800 km?
Details of cells and batteries are to be announced on Battery Day 22 September 2020.
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