[ButchC]

"Panasonic Corp (6752.T) said on Monday it will begin mass production of a new lithium-ion battery for Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) before the end of March 2024 at a plant in Japan."

Was this detail added by the article writer? Unless something has changed, Tesla cells are produced at the Tesla factories. These 4680 production lines are for Panasonic to sell to customers.

Actual press release: https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2022/02/en22022...

[enragedcacti]

Tesla has been a huge proponent of the 4680 and rely on Panasonic for a huge number of batteries. I doubt they will supply them exclusively to Tesla but the vast majority will likely go there since no other EV platform (that I'm aware of) is ready to accommodate 4680s.

[_ea1k]

Model S and X use 18650s manufactured in Japan. Maybe this is some long term plan to transition some unannounced vehicles to 4680?

[gameswithgo]

The model Y in Austin is supposed to use the 4680. Remains a question if the high horsepower cars can work with the bigger cells.

[_ea1k]

Of course, but the 4680 Y in Austin is being manufactured this year, possibly even right now. The cells aren't provided by this plant in Japan, they are currently being provided by Tesla's own equipment in CA.

I'm just guessing as to how they might use these cells that won't be produced in volume for at least two years. To me, new vehicles that haven't yet been announced are the most likely candidates. That could easily turn out to be wrong, of course.