Their effective adoption in the company's machinery fleet Californian is expected in a couple of years but obviously tests are already underway on various prototopes. At the top of the list, of possible suppliers, two well-known names have appeared in these days such as Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution. According to the news released by the Korea Herald newspaper, the two houses would already have the (almost) definitive versions of these batteries ready. Not only that: they would already be in contact with other manufacturers and business partners to start large-scale production.
At the moment, LG is supplying Tesla with type 2170 batteries while Samsung SDI is aiming for new agreements with Tesla in the perspective of its expansion in the United States. Considering that the new batteries will be installed in the Model Y produced from 2023, a possible contract would bring large revenues to the Korean house in a rather short time. Still, Tesla seemed intent on cutting ties with many suppliers by bringing production entirely in-house, although there are no definitive decisions on that.
Looking at the previous announcements signed by Elon Musk, the new batteries are not a sensational discovery but the result of continuous optimization of existing technologies. We still talk about lithium ions like most of the batteries currently used, but larger and with a longer life. Tesla had announced a possible increase in total autonomy (starting with Model y itself) of 16% and a reduction of 14% in production costs.
In addition to external suppliers, the production process of the new 4680 batteries it will be common to all Tesla factories, including the European one (when and if the works will be finished). All this to avoid the exhaustion of the raw material, the same batteries, in the assembly of new cars.