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Elon has said multiple times Tesla will buy all the batteries from all the suppliers they possibly can AND make their own as fast as possible AND increase exist

by grecy 5y ago

Elon has said multiple times Tesla will buy all the batteries from all the suppliers they possibly can AND make their own as fast as possible AND increase existing contracts with Panasonic AND seek out as many new suppliers as physically possible. Takeaway: Tesla want more batteries.

mountainriver 5y ago
That’s because Elon is genuinely trying to solve our energy problem, although people love to hate on him
- RNCTX 5y ago
  Because he's not, he's just trading energy credits.
  - tuatoru 5y ago
    Whatever his companies are doing or whatever else you don't like about him, he is a brilliant political engineer. Before Musk bought Tesla, policy-makers in the US and Europe were all "electric vehicles are a nice idea, but simply impractical and unfeasible. So our vehicle manufacturers tell us". In the short span of ten years, electric vehicles have become mandatory in many Western countries, starting sometime in the next 10 to 15 years, and they are headed that way in many more. And that is down to Musk. Whatever his--many and grievous--personal faults may be, and whatever else he does short of mass murder, he deserves our gratitude for this alone.
  - panick21 5y ago
    The whole point of energy credits is that slow moving large companies who use bad old technology give money to fast moving young technology who use modern green technologies. That is exactly what has happened and was a success as a business was created that no longer relies on credits and it has clearly accelerated the advent of EVs. Not sure what your issue is with that.
paxys 5y ago
Everyone wants more batteries. Batteries are going to be the new semiconductors over the next few decades.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Absolutely. They are also going to be a factor in climate related issue mitigation, batteries are relatively compact compared to alternatives such as pumped storage, and can be installed in a decentralized manner.
tuatoru 5y ago
If vehicles average 100kWh battery packs, 10 GWh is only 100k vehicles. 50kWh, only 200k. Global sales in 2018 (of light passenger vehicles) were around 70M. Absent chip shortages and financial crashes, we could expect to hit 100M in three or four years. Yep, Tesla wants more batteries. And this number, 70M, is why sticking with Nickel-Cobalt is a Bad Idea. There's a lot more iron and phosphorus available for a lot cheaper; demand for Nickel and Cobalt will push their price... er, very high.
- oses 5y ago
  At the latest Q&A Elon said they were not focusing on the energy side of the business because it would require them to not make a number of cars due to being limited on battery / inverter supply. This becomes exponentially harder as they add more and more power hungry vehicles to their lineup (see Cybertruck / Semi) and market more Mega/Gigapacks to grid operators. It makes sense for Tesla to try to get as many batteries as possible from as many sources as possible.

by grecy 5y ago

mountainriver 5y ago

That’s because Elon is genuinely trying to solve our energy problem, although people love to hate on him

RNCTX 5y ago
Because he's not, he's just trading energy credits.
- tuatoru 5y ago
  Whatever his companies are doing or whatever else you don't like about him, he is a brilliant political engineer. Before Musk bought Tesla, policy-makers in the US and Europe were all "electric vehicles are a nice idea, but simply impractical and unfeasible. So our vehicle manufacturers tell us". In the short span of ten years, electric vehicles have become mandatory in many Western countries, starting sometime in the next 10 to 15 years, and they are headed that way in many more. And that is down to Musk. Whatever his--many and grievous--personal faults may be, and whatever else he does short of mass murder, he deserves our gratitude for this alone.
- panick21 5y ago
  The whole point of energy credits is that slow moving large companies who use bad old technology give money to fast moving young technology who use modern green technologies. That is exactly what has happened and was a success as a business was created that no longer relies on credits and it has clearly accelerated the advent of EVs. Not sure what your issue is with that.

paxys 5y ago

Everyone wants more batteries. Batteries are going to be the new semiconductors over the next few decades.

jacquesm 5y ago
Absolutely. They are also going to be a factor in climate related issue mitigation, batteries are relatively compact compared to alternatives such as pumped storage, and can be installed in a decentralized manner.

tuatoru 5y ago

If vehicles average 100kWh battery packs, 10 GWh is only 100k vehicles. 50kWh, only 200k. Global sales in 2018 (of light passenger vehicles) were around 70M. Absent chip shortages and financial crashes, we could expect to hit 100M in three or four years. Yep, Tesla wants more batteries. And this number, 70M, is why sticking with Nickel-Cobalt is a Bad Idea. There's a lot more iron and phosphorus available for a lot cheaper; demand for Nickel and Cobalt will push their price... er, very high.

oses 5y ago
At the latest Q&A Elon said they were not focusing on the energy side of the business because it would require them to not make a number of cars due to being limited on battery / inverter supply. This becomes exponentially harder as they add more and more power hungry vehicles to their lineup (see Cybertruck / Semi) and market more Mega/Gigapacks to grid operators. It makes sense for Tesla to try to get as many batteries as possible from as many sources as possible.