World’s Largest Battery Maker Says Elon Musk ‘Doesn’t Know How To Make Batteries’

Friendly foes or business partners agreeing to disagree? Maybe it’s a bit of both for EV battery maker CATL and EV manufacturer Tesla. CATL founder and chairman Robin Zeng apparently told Tesla CEO Elon Musk that he basically sucks at making batteries. Musk’s reply: silence.

Musk not having a rebuttal or the last word in any conversation (even ones with only himself) sounds like a Twilight Zone episode. But that’s what Zeng says happened in an interview with Reuters. The topic was specifically about Tesla’s cylindrical battery, known as the 4680.

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According to Gizmodo, back in 2020, Musk boasted that the in-house designed 4680 would be cheaper to produce by 10 to 20 percent and increase capacity fivefold. Unlike Musk’s myriad of unfulfilled promises (Tesla Roadster, anyone?), the 4680 battery does exist.

However, instead of bringing Tesla prices down, which Musk does on his own based on moon phases or whatever, the 4680 is currently used in the Cybertruck and some variants of the Model Y. Ah, so the cheaper battery is in Tesla’s most expensive vehicle. Cue Alanis.

The 4680 “is going to fail and never be successful,” Zeng told Musk.

“We had a very big debate, and I showed him,” said Zeng. “He was silent. He doesn’t know how to make a battery. It’s about electrochemistry. He’s good for the chips, the software, the hardware, the mechanical things.”

This coming from CATL, which produces low-cost lithium phosphate batteries for Chinese-market Tesla vehicles. CATL also has a similar licensing deal with Ford in the U.S. for the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning.

Zeng added that he also questioned Musk about his incessant “overpromising” and unrealistic timelines for every product and project. Musk told Zeng that his goal was motivation (e.g., false hope) for Tesla employees because anything longer than a two-year time frame was the equivalent of “infinity.”

“Maybe something needs five years, but he says two years,” said Zeng. I definitely asked him why. He told me he wanted to push people.”

So, you might as well build your own Roadster if the production wait is already beyond infinity.

As for the 4680, although in production, it’s not without fault. Gizmodo refers to a report by The Information that says Musk has pushed engineers to reduce the battery’s cost further as production is slated to ramp up. A dry-coated version of the battery cells is also in the works and slated for the Cybertruck next year.

However, Tesla loses 70 to 80 percent of the cathodes in test production. Conventional battery makers, by comparison, lose less than 2 percent of components because of manufacturing defects. Another technical issue is that the batteries collapse on themselves when in use. So far, though, the 4680 contributed to the Cybertruck’s 2024 recall count, which currently stands at six.

Nevertheless, Musk said four new versions of the 4680 will be available by 2026, one of which will power the Cybercab robotaxi.

“He probably himself thinks it needs five years, but if you believe him when he says two years, you will be in big trouble,” said Zeng, without mentioning any specific vehicle or promise.