News
Solid State Battery Technology, a Tesla Gigafactory Killer?
With 2014 coming to an end, automotive battery news has been trickling out and solid state battery technology appears, again.
In early December, Volkswagen acquired a small equity stake in Stanford-based QuantumScape and Daimler recently announced that its lithium production output will be larger in 2015 due to a new battery plant in Kamenz, Germany, said to be ready by mid-2015.
The VW news keeps the the solid state battery thread for 2014 going as scientists point to its reported improved energy density over lithium-ion technology. A solid state battery does not use a liquid electrolyte like a lithium battery does and, in theory, a solid electrolyte can hold more energy. Yes, please.
Getting rid of an electrolyte—no liquid—can also improve battery safety and reduce costs due to less cooling electronics and micro-controllers needed for pack management, thus reducing weight too, according to Harvard Business Review.
What about downsides to this technology? A solid-state battery has electrical contacts or, electrodes, that are applied to a solid electrolyte—similar to a thin-film solar panel process—and if there’s a lack of uniformity in this process, it can cause short circuits. However, this type of manufacturing application has been done in the thin-film solar area and these obstacles should be easy to overcome.
Earlier this year, Scientific American did a profile on Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Sakti3 and their push with solid-state battery technology and move closer to the “god” battery.
Ann Marie Sastry, co-founder and CEO of the company, said, “that the company’s prototype solid-state lithium battery cells have reached a record energy density of 1,143 Watt-hours per liter—more than double the energy density of today’s best lithium-ion batteries.”
However, as Elon Musk said in the most recent Tesla earnings call,
“Talk is super cheap, the battery industry has to have more BS in it than any industry I’ve ever encountered. It’s insane.”
So is this technology an immediate challenger to Tesla Motors’ Gigafactory strategy? Will this battery technology get ahead of Tesla, due its battery equipment investment at the Gigafactory being close to complete and, thus, no turning back?
No and the reason is battery development takes a lot of time and these recent statements by Sakti3 in the Scientific American article bear this out.
Sakti3 says it’s close to the end of lab work—custom prototype manufacturing line—but then the next step is on to small scale production and this could take a another year or two of testing before you hit mass production.
That rules out GM going with this type of battery for their mass-produced battery electric vehicle for 2016 or 2017. Plus, Sakti3 mentioned its first aim is small-scale electronics and smartphones.
More importantly, JB Straubel and Tesla Motors aren’t looking for the God battery for 2017. Everyone seems to be looking for this right chemistry to scale with at this point. Granted, these are big automakers that could scale quickly as long their company culture is rowing in the same direction.
Tesla has their battery composition set and plan to cut 30 percent or more of costs out of their current battery price, which stands anywhere from $260 to maybe $220 kWh. Take the high end and with the cost savings, the battery pack is at $185 kWh, approximately.
That’s just over $10,000 for a battery pack for a 55kWh battery pack—assumption 30% battery cost reduction translates to battery pack. Also, my assumption above is that a Gen 3 car will be smaller and could get 220 miles with a smaller battery pack.
The rub for me is that the roadmap is in place for Tesla Motors battery chemistry and this should get them to a mass-market electric vehicle, first. Maybe other automakers are close to a new chemistry, but automotive testing and applications take time.
In the end, I’m all for the god battery sooner rather than later but Tesla Motors just isn’t waiting for it.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk shares big Tesla Optimus 3 production update
According to Musk, Tesla is in the final stages of completing Optimus 3, which he described as one of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that production of Optimus 3 could begin this summer. Musk shared the update in his interview at the Abundance Summit.
According to Musk, Tesla is in the final stages of completing Optimus 3, which he described as one of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots.
“We’re in the final stages of completion of Optimus 3, which is really going to be by far the most advanced robot in the world. Nothing’s even close. In fact, I haven’t even seen demos of robots that are as good as Optimus 3,” Musk said.
He also set expectations on the pace of Optimus 3’s production ramp, stating that the initial volumes of the humanoid robot will likely be very low. Musk did, however, also state that high production rates for Optimus 3 should be possible in 2027.
“I think we’ll start production on Optimus 3 this summer, but very slow at first, like sort of this classic S-curve ramp of manufacturing units versus time. And then, probably reach high volume production around summer next year,” he said.
Interestingly enough, the CEO hinted that Tesla is looking to iterate on the robot quickly, potentially releasing a new Optimus design every year.
“We’ll have Optimus 4 design complete next year. We’ll try to release a new robot design every year,” Musk stated.
Tesla has already outlined broader plans for scaling Optimus production beyond its first manufacturing line. Musk previously stated that Optimus 4 will be built at Gigafactory Texas at significantly higher production volumes.
Initial production lines for the robot are expected to be located at Tesla’s Fremont Factory, where the company plans to establish a line capable of producing up to 1 million robots per year.
A larger production ramp is expected to occur at Gigafactory Texas, where Musk has previously suggested could eventually support production of up to 10 million robots per year.
“We’re going to launch on the fastest production ramp of any product of any large complex manufactured product ever, starting with building a one-million-unit production line in Fremont. And that’s Line one. And then a ten million unit per year production line here,” Musk said previously.
The comments suggest that while Optimus 3 will likely begin production at Fremont, Tesla’s larger-scale manufacturing push could arrive with Optimus 4 at Gigafactory Texas.
Elon Musk
Tesla showcases Optimus humanoid robot at AWE 2026 in Shanghai
Tesla’s humanoid robot was presented as part of the company’s exhibit at the Shanghai electronics show.
Tesla showcased its Optimus humanoid robot at the 2026 Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE 2026) in Shanghai. The event opened Thursday and featured several Tesla products, including the company’s humanoid robot and the Cybertruck.
The display was reported by CNEV Post, citing information from local media outlet Cailian and on-site staff at the exhibition.
Tesla’s humanoid robot was presented as part of the company’s exhibit at the Shanghai electronics show. On-site staff reportedly stated that mass production of the robot could begin by the end of 2026.
Tesla previously indicated that it plans to manufacture its humanoid robots at scale once production begins, with its initial production line in the Fremont Factory reaching up to 1 million units annually. An Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas is expected to produce 10 million units per year.
Tesla China previously shared a teaser image on Weibo showing a pair of highly detailed robotic hands believed to belong to Optimus. The image suggests a design with finger proportions and structures that closely resemble those of a human hand.
Robotic hands are widely considered one of the most difficult engineering challenges in humanoid robotics. For a system like Optimus to perform complex real-world tasks, from factory work to household activities, the robot would require highly advanced dexterity.
Elon Musk has previously stated that Optimus has the capability to eventually become the first real-world example of a Von Neumann machine, a self-replicating system capable of building copies of itself, even on other planets. “Optimus will be the first Von Neumann machine, capable of building civilization by itself on any viable planet,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
