Tesla to expand 4680 cell production at the Fremont factory

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla (TSLA) is once again expanding its 4680 cell manufacturing. The automaker has just recently opened new jobs for cell manufacturing for its Fremont car factory in California.

New job opportunities popping up at the Tesla Fremont factory hint at the ramp-up plans of the 4680 cell production. Cole Otto, a Senior Manufacturing Engineer at the 4680 cell production plant at Fremont, announced new job openings in his department on LinkedIn.

Last year, Tesla critics started to think that Tesla had abandoned its 4680 cell production expansion plans. The basic reason for this false belief was that the new 4680 form-factor cells didn’t provide any extra benefits in terms of range or longevity of the car batteries.

However, with the recent job postings for the cell manufacturing setup a Tesla’s Fremont factory tell an entirely different story.

Here’s Cole Otto’s entire LinkedIn post:

A fantastic opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology and a brilliant team. ⚡️

Starting my Tesla journey as a Manufacturing Technician was a pivotal experience that shaped me into a better engineer. I gained hands-on experience with equipment, lab testing, executing DOEs, and working with material characterization equipment, deepening my knowledge of battery technology. 🔋

If you’re highly motivated and passionate about process development, root cause analysis, and innovation, I encourage you to apply and be part of this amazing program. 🚀

The job posting for 4680 cell manufacturing at the Fremont factory includes the following two expectations from the applicants, which suggest that Tesla is working to increase production of these battery cells.

• Support all aspects of operations in Fremont, including powder handling, process development, part assembly, tool organization, and cleaning
• Work closely with engineers to resolve manufacturing issues, improve processes, and establish procedures ensuring high quality and efficiency

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his team unveiled the new 4680 cells at the 2020 Battery Day. This new cell form-factor, its chemistry, and engineering were praised by the likes of teardown experts like Sandy Munro.

Before the unveiling of the 4680 cell at the Battery Day, the development, testing, and pilot production of this new form of electric vehicle battery were done at the Magic Cube building at the Fremont factory. This project ran under the codename Roadrunner.

Over the years, Tesla has been improving the 4680 cell technology to help increase the range and longevity of its electric cars. In 2022, the automaker achieved a production rate of 868K 4680 cells per week. However, this is barely enough to support partial Model Y and Cybertruck production.

In 2023, Tesla revealed its multi-billion-dollar plan to expand 4680 cell production along with the Semi-truck at its Giga Nevada factory. However, it seems that the automaker is moving slowly in this direction.

Above: Production process of the 4680 cells at the Tesla Fremont factory pilot plant.

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Featured image: Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

Note: This article was published earlier on Tesla Oracle. Author: Iqtidar Ali.