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Tesla battery researchers open path to all-electric range extender concept
Tesla has solidified itself as an industry leader when it comes to electric vehicles and their range. However, an EV’s range could always be improved, and the company has taken great efforts to make this possible. One of these was outlined by Tesla’s battery researchers, who recently published the results of a test that cycles lithium metal on graphite to form hybrid lithium-ion/lithium metal cells. This particular innovation could open the door to an all-electric range extender.
Other automakers have used range extenders in the past, but they’ve been comprised of small petrol-powered engines that are used as a generator to recharge the vehicle’s battery pack when it is low on range. The process of cycling lithium metal on graphite, on the other hand, could lead to a 20% higher energy density than the traditional lithium-ion cells that power the Tesla’s vehicles.
Tesla’s battery research team, led by Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University, has found a way to create a range extender of sorts without having to keep a small gas engine in the vehicle. Tesla detailed its findings in a research paper that was published to ScienceDirect on April 30. Titled “Cycling Lithium Metal on Graphite to Form Hybrid Lithium-Ion/Lithium Metal Cells,” Dahn and his researchers outlined the testing process.
The findings proved a possible 20% increase in range when using the range extender, which is comprised of “hybrid cells” that use Lithium-Ion and Lithium Metal. The cells also used an optimized electrolyte, and pressure enabled reversible plating on graphite.
The paper states:
“A hybrid anode cell design is proposed involving lithium metal plating on top of graphite that provides a 20% increase in energy density over conventional lithium-ion cells. Pouch cells with hybrid graphite-lithium metal anodes cycled with conventional electrolytes fell below 80% capacity in under 15 cycles. However, with a dual-salt electrolyte and applied mechanical pressure optimized for lithium metal cycling, hybrid cells achieved over 150 full (100% utilization) cycles before falling below 80% capacity with a CE of 99.6% for lithium metal plating on graphite.
“We also found that intermittent high energy (100% utilization) cycles utilizing lithium metal can be dispersed among hundreds of conventional lithium-ion cycles where only the graphite is utilized. Operating the cell with this intermittent protocol shows minimal impact to the underlying graphite capacity. Therefore, these hybrid cells can operate well in “lithium-ion mode” with periodic high energy full cycles accessing the lithium metal capacity.”
Tesla’s new findings show that increased energy density is made possible with the hybrid concept. When combining lithium-ion cells with lithium metal, energy density improves as the graphite anode utilized in traditional lithium-ion cells is not capable of handling the increased energy. The utilization of a dual-salt electrolyte also increases density and decreases battery cell degradation.
Tesla’s battery researchers described the advantages of the hybrid lithium-ion/lithium metal cells in the discussion below.
“If an electric vehicle with a conventional lithium-ion battery can deliver a range of 400 km, then hybrid cells could enable a range of 480 km. By capping the upper cut-off voltage of hybrid cells to operate in lithium-ion mode, the average cell voltage and delivered capacity will decrease. As a result, operating a hybrid cell in lithium-ion mode delivers an energy density of 530Wh/L, about 25% less than a conventional lithium-ion cell.
“This would result in a range of 300 km. In a study of driving behavior for EVs, Smart et al.34 showed that only 1% of daily trips are longer than 325 km on average. Therefore, operating hybrid cells most of the time in lithium-ion mode enabling a range of 300 km, while periodically using the lithium metal portion for long > 400 km trips, as mimicked by this testing protocol, should be viable for most drivers.”
It should be noted that the Tesla battery researchers’ study is only in their initial stages. Thus, it may take some time before the technology gets rolled out to Tesla’s fleet. The wait would likely be worth it though, as the hybrid cells could open the door to all-electric vehicles with range extender features. This would be incredibly useful for electric vehicle owners who take long road trips with family, and it could also be a notable step towards EVs gaining range parity with their petrol-powered counterparts.
Tesla has launched a new color at Gigafactory Berlin in Germany, home of the company’s “world-class paint shop,” as Elon Musk once called it.
Bringing a new color to Tesla’s Model Y, there are now five available colors for those who will receive a vehicle from Gigafactory Berlin, with four of them being colors offered in other markets.
However, there is now one distinct color that is only available in Germany: Marine Blue.
🚨 Tesla has launched “Marine Blue” in select European countries
It is the third shade of blue Giga Berlin produces. It costs $1,500 pic.twitter.com/pVDWdNeBSJ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 10, 2025
Priced at €1,300, Marine Blue will cost the same as both Diamond Black and Stealth Grey, while Quicksilver and Ultra Red are available for double the price.
It is the third shade of blue Tesla offers across its lineup, as Deep Metallic Blue and Glacier Blue are also offered, but in other markets.
Tesla has routinely flexed Giga Berlin for having the most advanced paint shop throughout its factories, and it has produced some interesting colors over the past few years, some of which were truly awesome.
Tesla Giga Berlin is getting a world-class paint shop, new color ‘layers’ to come
In 2020, Musk said, “Giga Berlin will have the world’s most advanced paint shop, with more layers of stunning colors that subtly change with curvature.”
He also detailed the company’s plans to upgrade the Fremont and Shanghai paint shops. Gigafactory Texas was not yet unveiled. Tesla has worked to improve those facilities, especially in Fremont.
It was able to roll out the new Diamond Black color earlier this year.
However, Giga Berlin seems to remain the standard in terms of paint for Tesla. It routinely offers new colors.
For example, back in 2022, Tesla rolled out its familiar Quicksilver color for the Model Y, while also introducing Midnight Cherry Red, a color close to burgundy. However, the company chose to discontinue the color after determining internally that customers no longer wanted to buy it.
Midnight Cherry Red was removed as an option earlier this year, likely to make way for the development of the new Marine Blue.
News
Tesla Autopilot visualization gets big upgrade with tons of new additions
The AP visualization shows up on the center touchscreen and illustrates the surroundings of the cars. It has gotten better in recent years, as it is able to outline types of vehicles, pedestrians, animals, and more.
Tesla’s Autopilot visualization just got a big upgrade as the company added tons of new additions to what it will be able to render in terms of a vehicle’s surroundings.
The AP visualization shows up on the center touchscreen and illustrates the surroundings of the cars. It has gotten better in recent years, as it is able to outline types of vehicles, pedestrians, animals, and more.
Tesla just fixed a four-year-old bug with Full Self-Driving visualization
However, it still does not have every single application, and acquiring them will take some time. If an object or vehicle is visible to the vehicle but an accurate render is not available, the car will instead pick whatever is closest.
For example, I passed an Amish family yesterday in Lancaster, PA, and instead of illustrating the horse and carriage, it simply showed a small box truck.
In an effort to make the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving suites more robust and accurate, Tesla has added a substantial amount of vehicle renders, which will become available in the coming weeks.
The visualizations were found by Tesla hacker @greentheonly, who posted them on X.
The new visualization renders are:
- Ambulance
- Firetruck
- Garbage Truck
- Schoolbus
- European Semi Truck
- Golf Cart
- Person on a Scooter
- Person on a Skateboard
- Stroller
- Street Sweeper
- Three-Wheeler
- Trailer
- Train
- Tram
- Person in a Wheelchair
Here is an image with all of the Autopilot visualization renders:
Credit: Green
The visualization is a crucial part of manual operation and can be considered a distinct advantage that Tesla has over other companies.
It continues to be an effort that Tesla invests heavily in, as it keeps refining the suite and making it more robust with additional visualizations and animations.
Recently, it was revealed that Tesla is planning to utilize Unreal Engine for driver visualization to create a realistic depiction of the vehicle’s environment. Tesla has not yet confirmed this, but coding found with the Model S and Model X showed it could be coming in the near future.
Tesla dominated the sales figures for electric vehicles in the third quarter in the United States, but there was one disappointment: the Cybertruck.
As a whole, the EV industry benefitted from the loss of the $7,500 EV tax credit in Q3, which was something many expected. As the credit expired, consumers rushed to showrooms to take the credit and remove $7,500 from the purchase price of their new vehicle.
Will Tesla thrive without the EV tax credit? Five reasons why they might
It was a very interesting time for many companies as they scrambled to figure out how to push as many vehicles out the door as they could in preparation for the tax credit’s removal. In typical fashion, Tesla was able to top every manufacturer and secure a dominating portion of the overall market in Q3.
However, some other OEMs pulled out some surprises, including Chevrolet, Honda, and Ford, which managed to get two vehicles in the top 10, as many as Tesla.
Cox Automotive compiled the data in its Q3 Electric Vehicle Sales Report:
- Tesla Model Y – 114,897
- Tesla Model 3 – 53,857
- Chevrolet Equinox EV – 25,085
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 21,999
- Honda Prologue – 20,236
- Ford Mustang Mach-E – 20,177
- Volkswagen ID.4 – 12,470
- Audi Q6 e-tron – 10,299
- Ford F-150 Lightning – 10,005
- Rivian R1S – 8,184
10.5 percent of the automotive sales in the U.S. in Q3 were electric, a new record that surpasses that of Q3 2024, where the total share of sales for EVs was 8.6 percent.
Now, the disappointment that is evident from this list is the fact that there is no Tesla Cybertruck listed. That’s because it was the second-best-selling EV pickup on the market. The company sold 5,385 Cybertruck units in Q3.
The Cybertruck has been a vehicle that has confused many Tesla fans and owners, especially considering the company had such stratospheric expectations for the vehicle while it was in development. Reservation trackers had the truck sitting between one million and two million orders, but it has not lived up to that.
Pricing is the main issue with Cybertruck. Tesla introduced the pickup with Single, Dual, and Tri-motor configurations, priced at $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990. Those price points are simply a thing of the past.
🚨 Tesla Cybertruck was the second-best-selling EV pickup in Q3, Cox Automotive data shows.
It was only outsold by the Ford F-150 Lightning, which sold 10,005 units for the quarter.
Cybertruck had 5,385 sales. pic.twitter.com/Q2gnUbF6bk
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 13, 2025
Tesla launches new color from Gigafactory Berlin
Tesla Autopilot visualization gets big upgrade with tons of new additions
Tesla dominates best-selling EVs in Q3, but there’s one disappointment
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