Connect with us

News

Tesla “Battery Day” event date is looking like April 2020, says Elon Musk

Published

5 years ago

on

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is preparing to host a Battery Day for shareholders sometime after the first quarter, possibly in April. The announcement came during the earnings call following Tesla’s release of its Q4 2019 Update Letter.

Responding to a question from a participating investor about where Tesla stands in growing its battery capacity, Musk said that the company has already demonstrated massive improvement in growing the capacity of the cells, modules, and batteries it uses for its all-electric vehicles.

The CEO attributed part of the improvements to Tesla’s relationships with various battery partners, such as Panasonic, which is Tesla’s in-house supplier of lithium-ion batteries at Giga Nevada. Tesla also teamed up with other partners such as LG and CATL to produce battery packs for its cars produced in China. Aside from that, Musk declined to provide additional details on future plans for improving its battery technology, leaving investors to look forward to the upcoming Battery Day event later this year.

“We have a lot more to talk about this in detail in Battery Day probably April. We have a very compelling strategy. I mean, we are super deep in cell. Super deep. Cell through battery,” he said.

Tesla’s efforts to upgrade its batteries include the acquisition of California-based energy storage firm Maxwell Technologies, which was completed in May last year. Tesla’s interest in Maxwell primarily lies in the latter’s innovations in ultracapacitors and dry electrode technologies, which could potentially improve the company’s batteries.

Advertisement

Prior to the acquisition, Tesla also submitted a patent for an idea to use electrolyte additives to improve the performance and lengthen the lifespan of lithium-ion cells. The patent, titled “Dioxazolones and Nitrile Sulfites as Electrolyte Additives for Lithium-ion Batteries,” provided details on how Tesla can significantly increase the lifespan and performance of its batteries by adding electrolyte additives such as lithium salt. Tesla also submitted another patent for using cold plates and heat pipes to reduce heat generated by the battery, thereby increasing the longevity of its energy storage systems.

The latest developments appear to be moving Tesla toward the completion of a 1-million mile battery. In April last year, Musk said that Tesla owners will soon be able to drive their cars for up to 1 million miles over the lifespan of their vehicles. This is equivalent to 20 years if the cells are used for energy storage systems. Tesla lead researcher Jeff Dahn and a team from the Dalhousie University physics and atmospheric science department have also developed pouch cells that can last 1 million miles or 20 years in a grid storage system.

Tesla’s huge lead in the electric vehicle market is due in part to its constant efforts to improve its battery technology. In fact, its batteries have improved so much over the years that the Model S is nearing a range of 400 miles. The published range for the luxury sedan is 373 miles, but Musk said during the earnings call that the actual range is somewhere in the 380s.

“S and X actually have more range than we are currently stating on the website. We just haven’t gotten around to updating the EPA […] number, but the actual range of the Model S and X are above what the website says they are,” he said. “Somewhere in the 380s, something like that.”

He also added that the 18650 lithium-ion cells that power the Model S and X have largely improved over the years, adding that further developments could raise the range of the Model S to 400 miles.

Advertisement

“I think we’re pretty happy with the energy content of the cell and the improvements in the efficiency of the vehicle,” he said. “We’re rapidly approaching a 400-mile range for the Model S, for example.”

Battery Day is expected to be similar to Autonomy Day, which was held in April last year. The event, which was attended by investors and also available via livestream, was a full three-hour technical discussion of Tesla’s work on autonomous driving technology and how the company plans to achieve its goal of delivering fully self-driving cars.

Related Topics:

I write about science and technology that changes the world.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Elon Musk reveals date of Tesla Robotaxi’s first rides open to public

Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to roll out new details regarding the Robotaxi launch that is expected to happen soon.

Published

35 minutes ago

on

June 10, 2025

By

Credit: Tesla

Tesla Robotaxi is set to launch in the coming days, but the first rides will be confined to those who receive invitations that the company sends out. However, CEO Elon Musk revealed the date that Tesla is aiming for when anyone in the general public will be able to call for a Robotaxi.

There has been quite a bit of information today about what appears to be an imminent launch of the Robotaxi platform. The first video of a Robotaxi was captured on a public road in Austin today, just one day after Tesla was added to the City of Austin’s list of licensed autonomous vehicle operators.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

In the coming days, it is expected that Tesla will launch the Robotaxi platform in Austin to a select few. For now, Tesla is taking this ultra-conservative approach as it pertains to the rollout, citing safety precautions. It will be the first time Tesla has done this in public and offered it to people outside of the company.

It did launch a small, limited version of it to employees last month in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, but there was someone in the driver’s seat. Today’s video only had an occupant in the passenger seat.

People are eager to know: when will they be able to fetch a driverless Tesla Model Y Robotaxi in Austin for themselves? Musk finally answered the long-awaited question with a tentative date of June 22:

Musk cited that Tesla’s utmost priority is still safety and not necessarily the speed of rollout. The current plan seems to be to deploy it in a controlled and slow fashion until confidence is at an extremely high level. Musk seems to believe the rollout will go smoothly, as the date comes less than two weeks after the initial launch.

Anyone who has experienced Full Self-Driving for themselves knows what the cars are capable of. However, Tesla, at this point in time, still requires drivers to pay attention and remain ready to take over the wheel in case of an emergency. This will be a major step in the right direction for Tesla as it prepares to launch Robotaxi in Austin and slowly expand to surrounding areas.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk says Tesla Robotaxi launch will force companies to license Full Self-Driving

“The automakers keep being told that this isn’t real or that just buying some hardware from Nvidia will solve it. As Tesla robotaxis become widespread and their other solutions don’t work, they will naturally turn to us.”

Published

4 hours ago

on

June 10, 2025

By

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the automaker’s Robotaxi platform launch later this month will essentially force other companies to license Full Self-Driving to achieve their own goals of achieving autonomy.

Musk’s statement comes as a video captured today showed the first Tesla Robotaxi test mules on public streets in Austin, Texas, just one day after the City officially listed the company as an autonomous vehicle operator.

A prediction by investing YouTube and Tesla community member Dave Lee stated that “at least one automaker by end of year” will license Full Self-Driving from the Musk-led company, as it will give rivals the confidence to use the software to run their own self-driving operations.

Lee detailed his theory by stating that the company that chooses to commit to FSD licensing will not be able to integrate the hardware and sell those units immediately. Instead, it will take two years or so to solve the engineering and design applications.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

Musk revealed his true thoughts on other automakers’ attempts at vehicle autonomy, and said many are being told that Robotaxi is not real or that they can solve their problems with hardware orders to Nvidia.

He went on to say that companies will be forced to turn to Tesla at some point or another, because Robotaxi will be widespread and their solutions to figuring out an effective deployment will prove to be failures:

“The automakers keep being told that this isn’t real or that just buying some hardware from Nvidia will solve it. As Tesla robotaxis become widespread and their other solutions don’t work, they will naturally turn to us.”

Musk has not been shy to respond to speculation regarding the video of the Robotaxi, which was shared on X earlier today. This is perhaps one of the more fiery things he revealed. He seems ultra-confident in what Tesla will prove and achieve in the near future with the launch of the Robotaxi platform.

Many believe it will be rolled out this month. Bloomberg reported recently that Tesla was internally aiming for June 12. The company has not directly responded to these rumors.

Tesla has discussed on several occasions that it is in talks with an automaker about licensing Full Self-Driving, but it has never revealed who. The company first revealed discussions with another automaker in early 2024 when Elon Musk said:

“We’re in conversations with one major automaker regarding licensing FSD. It really just becomes a case of having them use the same cameras and inference computer and licensing our software. Once it becomes obvious that if you don’t have this (FSD) in a car, nobody wants your car. It’s a smart car… The people don’t understand all cars will need to be smart cars, or you will not sell, or nobody would buy it. Once that becomes obvious, I think licensing becomes not optional.”

Tesla confirms it is in talks with major automaker for potential FSD licensing

Many, including us, suspected that Ford was the company that Tesla was speaking of due to Musk’s relationship with Jim Farley, which resulted in the legacy automaker being the first major car company to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), which gave them access to the Supercharging Network.

This catalyzed an onslaught of companies choosing to make the same move as Tesla had truly set itself apart in terms of charging infrastructure.

Companies may be forced to make a similar decision if it can make the same type of statement with the rollout of Robotaxi.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reveals new details about Robotaxi rollout

The first Tesla Robotaxi unit was spotted in Austin earlier today, and CEO Elon Musk is revealing some cool new details.

Published

6 hours ago

on

June 10, 2025

By

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed new details about the company’s relatively imminent rollout of the Robotaxi platform as the suspected launch date of June 12 continues to near.

Earlier today, the first video showing the first driverless Tesla Robotaxi in Austin was shared on X, just a day after the City officially listed the company as an autonomous vehicle operator on its website. Tesla is listed as a company in the “Testing” phase.

The initial details of the Robotaxi are being revealed by Musk, who is carefully releasing small tidbits that seem to show the capabilities of the entire Tesla fleet, and not necessarily just the vehicles that will be involved in the initial rollout in Austin.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

His first tidbit is one that many Tesla owners and fans will already know: many Teslas are capable of this driveless performance, but Full Self-Driving is not yet refined to the point where the software is quite ready to handle it. Current versions are robust, but not prepared for driverless navigation. The hardware, however, will enable Teslas to be Robotaxis, even if they’re already purchased by owners:

This is one of the biggest advantages Tesla has over other vehicle makers. Simply put, the Over-the-Air software updates that will roll out to FSD users will eventually make their cars into Robotaxis as well.

However, Musk shed some details on the version of FSD that is being run in these new Robotaxis that were spotted. Musk said that the version these Robotaxis are running is a new version, but will soon “merge to main branch.”

There is also an even newer version that has four times the parameters as this newer version that the test-stage Robotaxis are using, but Musk admits that this needs significant refinement before it is released to the public.

As of now, Tesla is simply teasing the actual launch date of the Robotaxi program, but Bloomberg reported earlier this month that it will occur on June 12.

Continue Reading

Trending