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Tesla Model 3 battery details revealed in partial teardown and analysis
The Tesla Model 3’s battery pack was given a partial teardown treatment recently, thanks to the efforts of automotive veteran Jack Rickard and his team at EVTV. Rickard, a car enthusiast who conducts electric vehicle conversions, was ultimately impressed with how the Model 3’s battery was assembled, as well as the refinement of its design.
Rickard’s team was able to acquire the battery pack from a totaled Model 3. Upon removing the pack from the vehicle, the electric car conversion specialist’s interest was piqued by the covering of the battery modules. According to Rickard, the sections of the battery pack directly above the Model 3’s 2170 cells had a thin pad that was strangely wet.
This particular section mentioned by Rickard appear to be the “fluff” that Elon Musk mentioned during Tesla’s Q1 2018 earnings call. According to Musk, the fiberglass mats, which are placed on top of the battery pack, became one of the scenarios that proved human hands can work better than robots.
“They’re basically fluff. We tried to automate the placement and bonding of fluff to the top of the battery pack, which was ridiculous. ‘Flufferbot,’ which was really an incredibly difficult machine to make work. Machines are not good at picking up pieces of fluff. Hands are way better at doing that,” Musk said.
Another particularly compelling observation highlighted by Rickard was that the four modules of the Model 3 battery pack were not identical, with two modules featuring 25 cell groups in series and the other two featuring 23 cell groups in series. Rickard’s team did not tear down the battery packs down to its individual 2170 cells, but it was mentioned that each one of the cell groups includes 46 2170 cells that are connected in parallel. Overall, the vehicle appears to have a total of 4,416 2170 cells, at least for the Model 3’s long-range RWD configuration.
The Model 3’s battery weighs 1,054 pounds, which, according to the group, places the energy density of the pack at around 168 Wh/kg. The individual modules of the Model 3 battery are lined with a ribbon-like circuit that goes across the top of the modules and into a BMS board. The BMS boards are sub-boards that are installed on each module, and are, in turn, connected to a main board using only two pins.
One of the Model 3 battery pack’s BMS boards. [Credit: Jack Rickard/YouTube]
Ultimately, the EVTV team was impressed with the Model 3’s battery, with Rickard even dubbing it as the “best battery ever built to date.” The electric car conversion specialist also noted that the Model 3 battery would likely be a favorite among the DIY community. Considering that Tesla is attempting to achieve a production rate of 5,000 Model 3 per week by the end of Q2 2018, Rickard noted that the electric car’s batteries would probably be abundant in the market. This bodes well for DIY enthusiasts like Rickard, who could utilize the modules as batteries for RVs, home battery units, and electric car conversions, among other projects.
Jack Rickard and his team’s observations about the Model 3’s battery are in line with the findings of Sandy Munro during his firm’s teardown of the vehicle. In a recent episode of Autoline After Hours, Munro dubbed the Model 3’s pack as the best in the industry, noting the .2 milliamp differential between each of the battery blocks.
“Nobody can balance batteries that close. Nobody. Nobody’s ever done that,” Munro said.
Watch Jack Rickard and his team’s Model 3 battery teardown in the video below.
Tesla Cybercab is perhaps the most highly-anticipated project that the company plans to roll out this year, and as it is undergoing its testing phase in pre-production currently, there are some things to work through with it.
Over the weekend, an image of the Cybercab being loaded onto a tow truck started circulating on the internet, and people began to speculate as to what the issue could be.
Hmmmmmm… https://t.co/L5hWcOXQkb pic.twitter.com/OJBDyHNTMj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 11, 2026
The Cybercab can clearly be seen with a Police Officer and perhaps the tow truck driver by its side, being loaded onto, or even potentially unloaded from, the truck.
However, it seems unlikely it was being offloaded, as its operation would get it to this point for testing to begin with.
It appears, at first glance, that it needs assistance getting back to wherever it came from; likely Gigafactory Texas or potentially a Bay Area facility.
The Cybercab was also spotted in Buffalo, New York, last week, potentially undergoing cold-weather testing, but it doesn’t appear that’s where this incident took place.
It is important to remember that the Cybercab is currently undergoing some rigorous testing scenarios, which include range tests and routine public road operation. These things help Tesla assess any potential issue the vehicle could run into after it starts routine production and heads to customers, or for the Robotaxi platform operation.
This is not a one-off issue, either. Tesla had some instances with the Semi where it was seen broken down on the side of a highway three years ago. The all-electric Semi has gone on to be successful in its early pilot program, as companies like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo. have had very positive remarks.
The Cybercab’s future is bright, and it is important to note that no vehicle model has ever gone its full life without a breakdown. It happens, it’s a car.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that there has been no official word on what happened with this particular Cybercab unit, but it is crucial to remember that this is the pre-production testing phase, and these things are more constructive than anything.
Tesla analyst Andrew Percoco of Morgan Stanley teased the company’s dominance in its self-driving initiative, stating that its lead over competitors is “not even close.”
Percoco recently overtook coverage of Tesla stock from Adam Jonas, who had covered the company at Morgan Stanley for years. Percoco is handling Tesla now that Jonas is covering embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
His first move after grabbing coverage was to adjust the price target from $410 to $425, as well as the rating from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco’s new note regarding Tesla highlights the company’s extensive lead in self-driving and autonomy projects, something that it has plenty of competition in, but has established its prowess over the past few years.
He writes:
“It’s not even close. Tesla continues to lead in autonomous driving, even as Nvidia rolls out new technology aimed at helping other automakers build driverless systems.”
Percoco’s main point regarding Tesla’s advantage is the company’s ability to collect large amounts of training data through its massive fleet, as millions of cars are driving throughout the world and gathering millions of miles of vehicle behavior on the road.
This is the main point that Percoco makes regarding Tesla’s lead in the entire autonomy sector: data is King, and Tesla has the most of it.
One big story that has hit the news over the past week is that of NVIDIA and its own self-driving suite, called Alpamayo. NVIDIA launched this open-source AI program last week, but it differs from Tesla’s in a significant fashion, especially from a hardware perspective, as it plans to use a combination of LiDAR, Radar, and Vision (Cameras) to operate.
Percoco said that NVIDIA’s announcement does not impact Morgan Stanley’s long-term opinions on Tesla and its strength or prowess in self-driving.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief
And, for what it’s worth, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang even said some remarkable things about Tesla following the launch of Alpamayo:
“I think the Tesla stack is the most advanced autonomous vehicle stack in the world. I’m fairly certain they were already using end-to-end AI. Whether their AI did reasoning or not is somewhat secondary to that first part.”
Percoco reiterated both the $425 price target and the ‘Equal Weight’ rating on Tesla shares.
Elon Musk
Donald Trump turns to Elon Musk and Starlink amid Iran internet blackout
Donald Trump has stated that he plans to speak with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk about restoring internet access in Iran.
Donald Trump has stated that he plans to speak with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk about restoring internet access in Iran, as authorities in the country implement an internet blackout amid nationwide anti-government protests.
Trump points to Starlink
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Trump said Musk would be well-suited to help restore connectivity in Iran, citing his experience operating large-scale satellite networks, as noted in a Reuters report. “He’s very good at that kind of thing, he’s got a very good company,” Trump said.
Iran has experienced a near-total internet shutdown for several days, severely limiting the flow of information as protests escalated into broader demonstrations against the country’s rulers.
Starlink has previously been used in Iran during periods of unrest, allowing some users to access the global internet despite government blocks. Neither Musk nor SpaceX immediately commented on Trump’s remarks, but Musk has publicly supported efforts to provide Starlink access to Iranians during earlier periods of unrest.
Renewed Trump–Musk ties
Trump’s comments come amid a thaw in his previously strained relationship with Musk. The two had a public falling-out last year over domestic policy disagreements but have since appeared together publicly, including at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The renewed ties now intersect with foreign policy, as Starlink has become a strategic tool in regions facing censorship or conflict.
The satellite service has also played a prominent role elsewhere, most notably in Ukraine, highlighting both its potential impact and the political sensitivities surrounding its use. In Iran, Starlink support previously followed coordination between Musk and U.S. officials during protests in 2022.
The current internet blackout in Iran has drawn international attention, with rights groups estimating hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests since demonstrations intensified late last year. Iranian authorities have not released official casualty figures, and outside verification remains limited due to restricted communications.
Tesla Cybercab ‘breakdown’ image likely is not what it seems
Tesla analyst teases self-driving dominance in new note: ‘It’s not even close’
