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Are we sure Tesla has no hand in the manufacture or know-how of building the actual cells? If that is true, why would they be contracting Jeff Dahn to do batter

by tcoppi 10y ago

Are we sure Tesla has no hand in the manufacture or know-how of building the actual cells? If that is true, why would they be contracting Jeff Dahn to do battery research for them? It is my understanding that the types of partnerships between companies like the Gigafactory are usually designed to allow both companies to learn from the other as part of the process. Of course we can't know without seeing the agreement between Panasonic and Tesla but it seems a little misguided to suggest Tesla has no hand in the design of the cells.

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
Why would Panasonic share their industrial secrets with Tesla? They have nothing to gain and plenty to lose from doing so. There are plenty of other EV manifacturers with equally large (or larger) need for cells, like VW, Nissan, Mitsubishi etc.
- tcoppi 10y ago
  I won't speculate as to their motives, just the evidence I see that Tesla is deploying their own battery know-how to the project, so some sharing of some sort must be going on. Edit: Found some info straight from the source[1]. Panasonic executive vice president Yoshihiko Yamada thought Elon and Co. were crazy initially when they proposed this idea. Eventually he saw the light and now the companies are closer than ever. Here’s how he put it: “Three years ago I thought this gigantic Gigafactory idea was crazy. Because then the production of the factory would exceed production of the industry. I thought it was a crazy idea. But I was crazy, and I was wrong after seeing extreme success of the announcement of the Model 3 and the strong demand…I want to explain to you the relationship with Tesla and Panasonic. I used to be in charge of components five or six years ago. At that time our relationship with Tesla was one of supplier and customer. A conventional business relationship.“But since we started discussion on the Gigafactory that’s completely changed. One example, is production capacity is now two or three times more. Why? Because Tesla and manufacturing people worked together. We are discussing these details. This type of relationship is quite new for business. We are not the simple buyer and supplier relationship.” (emphasis mine) 1. http://electrek.co/2016/07/28/tesla-gigafactory-tour-roundup-and-tidbits-this-is-the-coolest-factory-ever/ http://electrek.co/2016/07/28/tesla-gigafactory-tour-roundup...

by tcoppi 10y ago

semi-extrinsic 10y ago

Why would Panasonic share their industrial secrets with Tesla? They have nothing to gain and plenty to lose from doing so. There are plenty of other EV manifacturers with equally large (or larger) need for cells, like VW, Nissan, Mitsubishi etc.

tcoppi 10y ago
I won't speculate as to their motives, just the evidence I see that Tesla is deploying their own battery know-how to the project, so some sharing of some sort must be going on. Edit: Found some info straight from the source[1]. Panasonic executive vice president Yoshihiko Yamada thought Elon and Co. were crazy initially when they proposed this idea. Eventually he saw the light and now the companies are closer than ever. Here’s how he put it: “Three years ago I thought this gigantic Gigafactory idea was crazy. Because then the production of the factory would exceed production of the industry. I thought it was a crazy idea. But I was crazy, and I was wrong after seeing extreme success of the announcement of the Model 3 and the strong demand…I want to explain to you the relationship with Tesla and Panasonic. I used to be in charge of components five or six years ago. At that time our relationship with Tesla was one of supplier and customer. A conventional business relationship.“But since we started discussion on the Gigafactory that’s completely changed. One example, is production capacity is now two or three times more. Why? Because Tesla and manufacturing people worked together. We are discussing these details. This type of relationship is quite new for business. We are not the simple buyer and supplier relationship.” (emphasis mine) 1. http://electrek.co/2016/07/28/tesla-gigafactory-tour-roundup-and-tidbits-this-is-the-coolest-factory-ever/ http://electrek.co/2016/07/28/tesla-gigafactory-tour-roundup...