CATL boss: Musk has no idea about batteries, 4680 cell will fail.
Summary
CATL boss Robin Zeng criticizes Tesla's new 4680 battery cells
Zeng: Elon Musk knows nothing about battery manufacturing
Tesla struggles with cost and production problems for new cells
CATL is the world's largest manufacturer of e-car batteries
Zeng criticizes Musk's unrealistic timetables for developments
Despite criticism: Zeng respects Musk's innovative spirit in other areas
Whether Tesla's 4680 cells will be successful remains to be seen
Tesla's new battery cells will "fail and never succeed". This is the opinion of Robin Zeng, founder of the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL, who strongly criticizes Elon Musk's latest technology decision.
Musk puts Tesla team under pressure
According to the company, the "tabless" 4680 cell developed by Tesla should offer five times more energy capacity than conventional batteries. Tesla announced in September that it had already produced 100 million of these cells, but according to a report by The Information, the company is still struggling with cost and production problems. However, Musk is said to have given his team a deadline of the end of the year to solve these challenges.
Zeng told Reuters that he and Musk had an in-depth discussion about the technology during a meeting in China in April. "I showed him and he was quiet," Zeng said. In his opinion, Musk does not know how to make batteries. Nevertheless, he admitted that the Tesla boss was talented in other areas such as software, hardware and mechanics.
CATL, the world's largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles, supplies batteries for Teslas in China and for Ford models such as the Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning in North America, among others. CATL specializes in lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which offer less range but are cheaper and more durable.
Tight time frame
Zeng also commented on Musk's handling of schedules. He criticized the Tesla boss for regularly setting unrealistic deadlines - a problem that is also evident in the development of full self-driving technology, for example. "Maybe it takes five years, but he says two years," said Zeng. When asked why Musk was proceeding in this way, he replied that he wanted to put pressure on his employees.
Despite the differences, Zeng seems to respect Musk's innovative spirit, but sees clear weaknesses in his battery knowledge. It remains to be seen whether the controversial 4680 cells will actually bring about a breakthrough - the competition from CATL certainly seems convinced that the approach is doomed to failure.
