Elon Musk Confirms Gigafactory Berlin First To Use New 4680 Battery Cells, New Paint Shop

At Tesla Inc's TSLA battery day, the company showed its vision for the future of batteries: the 4680 cylindrical cell. These cells would allow Tesla's vehicles to go farther, charge faster, and cost less.

Now after a story posted by Tesmanian claimed sources said the first 4680 cell cars would be produced at Gigafactory Berlin, Elon Musk responded on Twitter confirming the news.

Gigafactory Berlin will be the first to use the cells, along with full front and rear body castings and a new paint shop. The vehicle was not specified, but in the past Musk has said the first vehicle out of this factory will be the Model Y.

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Giga Berlin-Brandenburg will be the first to use our new structural pack architecture, 4680 (world’s most advanced cells, made on-site), both front & rear body castings & advanced paint shop. Warning: with so much new technology, production timing is naturally harder to predict.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2020

Benzinga's Take: This is one of the biggest improvements Tesla vehicles have received. Once these cells are in cars, charge rates should decrease, efficiency should increase, and drivers will be able to drive much farther before needing to charge up.

These cells are also expected to have a long life, and reduce manufacturing costs. Tesla has a history of maintaining margins and lowering vehicle prices when new breakthroughs allow.

Photo courtesy of Tesla