Cybertruck launch delayed by battery range and steel body weight challenges
While Tesla just announced its 20 millionth 4680 battery cell produced at Giga Texas, range challenges
might be behind the launch delay of the Cybertruck equipped with them. First Cybertruck deliveries
were supposed to start back in September.
Elon Musk’s emotional decision about the Cybertruck’s edgy design and unorthodox stainless steel
build has been well documented by his biographer Walter Isaacson. It, however, has reportedly
presented additional challenges to Tesla’s engineers that might be behind the Cybertruck’s launch
delay.
The extra weight of the stainless steel supplied by manufacturer Outokumpu for the body of the
Cybertruck had reportedly thrown off Tesla’s promised range targets completely. So much so, that
Tesla’s engineers tried various other ways to reduce the Cybertruck’s weight for months on end in order
to reach their battery pack range goals. They swapped components for lighter ones, or tried to shave off
the ounces and pounds from Cybertruck parts that had no alternative.
When announcing Tesla’s Q2 results, Elon Musk felt obliged to reiterate that the “Cybertruck has a lot
of new technology in it, like a lot,” as if to hint why the self-imposed “end of Q3” Cybertruck delivery
deadline came and went. The top tri-motor Cybertruck launch trim is likely the one that should land
with Tesla’s promised up to 500 miles of range on a charge and it has apparently not been easy on
Tesla’s engineers to hit that with a stainless steel truck.
In its Master Plan 3 unveiled earlier this year, Tesla lists the Cybertruck’s category as having 100 kWh
pack capacity on average. The Cybertruck’s battery may have to be larger to accommodate for the
increased weight of the stainless steel compared to orthodox truck body materials, so Tesla will need a
lot of 4680 batteries for the Cybertruck. The rate with which it moved from the 10 to 20 millionth cell
produced at Giga Texas, however, tells that currently it can only make enough for a few hundred
Cybertruck units per week even if the range challenges have been fully sorted out.
source: WSJ
Tesla Model 3 to see 50% tax credit reduction just as income eligibility limits for new EV buyers
may disappear
All electric vehicle buyers may become eligible for the full amount of the government’s new EV tax
credit in 2024. While adjusted gross income limitations may be removed, electric cars like the Tesla
Model 3 could see their tax credit slashed in half.
Tesla has changed the new EV tax credit reduction language for the Model 3 to reflect that it is certain
to become ineligible for US$3,750 in government subsidies. Whereas before it said “ “reductions are
likely after Dec 31,” the tax credit blurb now says that “$7,500 tax credit expected to reduce to $3,750
on Dec 31 pending federal guidance.”
After slashing the Model 3 and Model Y prices this week, Tesla now urges buyers to “take delivery to
guarantee full incentive.” Tesla’s current market share slump to 58% may be behind this tax credit
language change, as it tries to queue as many orders for the last subsidy-eligible quarter as possible.
The Tesla Model 3 uses Chinese LFP packs made by the world’s biggest EV battery maker CATL.
Despite that, Tesla managed to distribute the share of Chinese raw materials in its battery assemblies
across its fleet to stay under the government’s 40% threshold for tax credit eligibility. Next year,
however, that threshold rises to 50%, and the base Model 3 will evidently only get the $3,750 subsidy
for localized battery pack assembly.
Any potential demand reduction that the Model 3 tax credit loss might bring could be partially offset by
upcoming federal guidelines towards removing all income limit requirements for new EV buyers.
