<\/p>\n \u201cWith respect to our own cell production, we do see a path to cost parity by the end of this year\u2014a very difficult path to cost parity,\u201d Musk summed.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Musk is now talking about cost parity, it\u2019s a very different reality for Tesla\u2019s signature battery move, nearly four years after its September 2020 Battery Day. Tesla made the 4680 cells and its own future production of them the centerpoint of that event and claimed it would make the breakthrough cell at half the cost<\/a>, on an energy basis, versus suppliers\u2014and boasted that it could even supply it to other automakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Comparing 4680 vs. 2170 – Panasonic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCurrently our 4680s cost more than our suppliers\u2019,\u201d Musk revealed on Thursday, as he noted the volatility of EV battery prices. \u201cThey cost more than the suppliers\u2019 today but they cost less than the suppliers\u2019 a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of a feast-famine thing with battery cell suppliers, kind of for VRAM chips,\u201d he added. \u201cBut we expect to achieve cost parity, even be much lower than the supplier cell price today, by the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n The cost of EV battery cells has indeed been a rollercoaster ride. After Battery Day, EV battery cost soared<\/a> to new heights in 2022, hampering EV affordability. Lithium-ion battery prices dropped through 2023 and into this year, but they\u2019re not showing signs of stopping. Goldman Sachs analysts now anticipate a nearly 40% decline in EV battery prices<\/a> between 2023 and 2025, which in turn will boost sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tesla Battery Day – Bigger costs less<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In so many respects, the economics of EV battery supply are looking very different than how they presented around Battery Day. There is now such a global glut in battery production, if you consider China, that China itself now makes enough batteries to cover all global EV production, according to an assessment earlier this spring by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. And in format, no other major automaker has yet committed to the 4680 cylindrical format (46 mm diameter, 80 mm height). BMW has, for instance, instead committed to 4695 (same 46 mm diameter, greater 95 mm height).<\/p>\n Musk had said in 2021 that without Tesla\u2019s own production of the 4680 cells, it wouldn\u2019t have enough for mass-production of the Semi<\/a>\u2014a stage of Semi ramp that Musk only confirmed in this week\u2019s event.\u00a0<\/p>\nBattery Day and 4680 aimed to halve the cost<\/h2>\n
![\"Comparing](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/comparing-4680-vs-2170--panasonic_100812093_l.jpg\" "\\"Comparing")
<\/p>\nTesla\u2019s big battery bet hasn\u2019t paid off\u2014yet<\/h2>\n
![\"Tesla](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/tesla-battery-day--bigger-costs-less_100762377_l.jpg\" "\\"Tesla")
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![\"2025](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/2025-tesla-cybertruck--courtesy-of-tesla-inc_100907933_l.webp\" "\\"2025")
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