Samsung SDI, who already produces some of Tesla’s 4680 battery cells, has recently begun testing new solid-state batteries.
Solid-state batteries are expected to be smaller, lighter, cooler, and safer than current cell formats that are used in electric vehicles. There’s a lot of potential and possibilities in solid-state batteries.
Let’s dig into exactly what these new batteries are, and why everyone seems to fuss all over them on the big news channels every time a company makes an announcement.
Regular Batteries
The biggest thing to understand about solid state battery is how they’re different from regular batteries is terms of materials and design. We’ll dig into regular batteries first, and then get to solid state batteries.
Today, Tesla’s EVs – and EVs in general, use one of two types of batteries – LFP or NMC. LFP batteries are composed of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFP on the periodic table), while NMC is composed of Nickle Manganese Cobalt (NiMnCo). Tesla uses LFP batteries in its standard range vehicles, while their longer-range or performance siblings use NMC battery composition.
The biggest difference here is price and performance – LFP has a more stable chemistry and less degradation but also has a lower energy density. Meanwhile NMC performs better, outputs more energy, has a higher energy density, but isn’t as chemically stable and will degrade faster.
These chemical differences also aid with temperatures – NMC batteries perform better in more extreme weather conditions such as extreme cold or extreme heat – much better than their LFP siblings.
Both of these types of batteries also contain a liquid electrolyte – a wet medium that is electrically conductive and enables the movement of the ions in the battery pack, but won’t conduct electricity. So, with all that aside, let’s take a look at what solid state batteries bring to the table.
Solid State Batteries
Solid State Batteries don’t contain that liquid electrolyte. That’s already a huge change – because a large portion of the weight and density increases in regular battery packs actually originate from that heavy liquid. The replacement of that liquid is a stable, solid electrolyte, generally in the form of glass or ceramics.
Essentially, that frees up space and makes it easier to cool the batteries – so much so that solid state batteries today are used in smartwatches and other wearable devices – even pacemakers. In fact, that space saving is so large, that a solid-state equivalent of an LFP or NMC battery would use up 1/10th of the space, with a similar reduction in weight.
Additionally, solid state batteries don’t need all the additional equipment for monitoring, controlling, and cooling the liquid electrolyte – the pack is a solid block that can be cooled similar to a PC part – like a CPU.
The removal of the liquid electrolyte can also improve vehicle safety. We’re sure you’ve been told never to puncture a battery pack – that’s because when the electrolyte is removed, LFP and NMC batteries can experience thermal runaway – they have no way to cool themselves, and this heat reaction spreads throughout the battery, leading to a fire. In addition, the electrolyte tends to be flammable and toxic – making battery fires a truly dangerous, but still rare, phenomenon.
The electrolyte liquid – even though it does the important job of moving the ions around – actually can and will do permanent damage to the components of the battery, causing corrosion or build up over exceptionally long times. That’s exactly how you get battery degradation!
A solid electrolyte solves all these problems. Mostly. Even the solid electrolyte can degrade over time but will last an exceptionally long time. That’s why many companies advertise 20-year lifespans, and with considerable energy density.
Samsung’s recent solid-state breakthrough has them mentioning a 20-year lifespan with 500Wh/kg. Tesla’s newest 4680 cell is 244 to 296Wh/kg right now. Samsung has also mentioned a massive charging speed improvement – 9 minutes. That’s probably a 20% to 80% number, rather than a 0% to 100% number – as charge speeds at the far end of the curve tend to slow down considerably to protect the battery, while exceptionally low states of charge are uncommon.
Where is the Solid State?
We did say we already use solid state batteries elsewhere, like in wearable devices. But why not cars? They’re expensive. In fact, very, very expensive to manufacture at the size and scale needed to power EVs. Tesla and its battery suppliers, including Samsung, CATL, and LG, have been prototyping and working on their own solid state battery projects over the years.
Once they figure out how to scale these up, we could see drastic improvements in vehicle range and longevity, alongside improved charging times. But I wouldn’t expect them to show up right around the corner – it may take several years for engineers and scientists to work everything out, and another few to figure out to mass produce it.
While Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update brought many new features, including Apple Watch Support, Cross Traffic Alerts, Weather Overlays, Search Along Route, and others, there are also several smaller items in this update that didn’t get much attention.
Ambient Lighting Now Affects Easter Eggs
The 2024+ Model 3 and Cybertruck both come equipped with ambient lighting, and Tesla is now taking advantage of this custom lighting feature by incorporating it into several easter eggs.
Rainbow Road: If you head over to Apps > ToyBox > Rainbow Road, you’ll find a new option available that allows the ambient lighting in the vehicle to also change shades while Rainbow Road is active. The Rainbow Road easter egg is a tribute to the iconic course course in Nintendo’s Mario Kart.
Check out the feature in action below:
🇮🇹 Con l’aggiornamento di Natale, quando attiviamo la pista arcobaleno, anche i LED interni diventeranno arcobaleno. Questa è una novità non documentata, scovata da un utente di TESLERS (chiaramente riguarda le Model 3 Highland)
Santa Mode: Just in time for Christmas, Tesla has improved Santa Mode by cycling the ambient lighting between Christmas colors. Similar to Rainbow Road, the use of ambient lighting for the easter egg is optional and can be enabled under Apps > ToyBox > Santa Mode.
When using Santa Mode with ambient lighting turned on, the lights will cycle just between Christmas colors, red, green and white, instead of the full rainbow. There’s a video of the feature below:
The Model S and Model X vehicles that support Steam gaming are receiving a Steam app update in the holiday update as well. This update could end up being very interesting, but for now Tesla says that the SteamOS, which also runs on Valve’s Steam Deck has been updated to version 3.6.
Valve outlines a wide range of fixes and improvements in their release notes for version 3.6, but Tesla simply states that the OS update includes performance enhancements and improved game compatibility.
The SteamOS hasn’t been updated on the Model S and X for quite a while, so we believe there may be more to this besides performance improvements and fixes. We’ll be looking to share some insights into this in the near future.
So, there you have it—three new features in the Holiday update that have mostly gone under the radar. While they may not apply to everyone, there are plenty of other cool features in the Holiday Update, like the arrival of Dynamic Road Closure Routing and Nearby Parking, that are coming to every vehicle, so go check out the full release notes.
At the 2023 Q3 Earnings Call, Tesla provided an update on its next-generation model, what many are referring to as the “Model 2” or “Model Q.” Although the actual model name is yet to be determined, it is known internally as Redwood.
During the 2024 Shareholder Meeting, Musk again mentioned the upcoming model, saying that Tesla is working on new products, including a more affordable vehicle and a larger SUV.
While we know the next-gen vehicle is aimed at the $25k to $30k USD market, we now have some new information thanks to a new report out of China.
Launch & Price
According to the Chinese outlet CNMO Technology News (Sina Finance), Travis Axelrod, Tesla’s Head of Investor Relations, announced plans to launch a new model. Axelrod shared this update while addressing senior corporate investors at an investor conference hosted by Deutsche Bank on December 5, 2024.
The goal of Project Redwood, internally dubbed “Model Q” by Deutsche Bank, is to achieve a post-subsidy price of under $30,000 USD. With the Federal EV Rebate potentially expiring next year, this suggests that the Model Q’s starting price will be around $30,000 USD. For comparison, the Model 3 currently starts at $42,490 in the U.S.
We previously reported that Tesla has already been speaking to suppliers and is looking to begin volume production of the vehicle sometime around June 2025. Of course, prototyping is still necessary, but we haven’t seen any signs of Tesla testing a new vehicle since spotting the Cybercab on the streets ahead of We, Robot.
Specs
The Model Q will supposedly be about 15% smaller and 30% lighter than the Model 3, with an approximate length of 3,988mm, or 157 inches. For scale, the Mini is 157 inches, while the Model 3 is 185 inches, so it’s fairly compact.
The battery will also be smaller to match the vehicle’s smaller size as Tesla tries to reduce the vehicle’s price while maintaining a similar range as its other vehicles. Tesla is expected to offer two models—a single-motor RWD model and a Long-Range Dual-Motor AWD variant.
The lower trim level will include a 53 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, while the AWD version is expected to include a 75 kWh LFP battery. The report says that the vehicle will be able to travel up to 500 km (310 miles) on a single charge, but it’s not clear whether this will be for the more efficient RWD version or the AWD variant.
Given the vehicle’s weight reduction compared to the Model 3, this type of range is likely for the lower trim level.
Variant
Motors
Battery Size
Estimated Range
RWD
1
53 kWh (LFP)
310 miles (500km)?
AWD
2
75 kWh (LFP)
?
There’s no news yet on the price of the AWD version, but we expect it to be about $5,000 more expensive than the RWD variant.
Once the vehicle ramps up in production, Tesla intends to produce about 10,000 of these per week globally or about 500,000 per year. As Tesla mentioned during one of their previous earnings calls, this next-gen vehicle will be built using Tesla’s current assembly lines with minimal changes. This should allow for a smoother and more predictable production ramp. While Tesla still plans to use its new unboxed assembly process, it’s now saving it for the robotaxi.
We’re expecting Juniper to launch early next year, as production has supposedly already begun at Giga Shanghai, at least on a limited prototyping basis. If the rollout matches the Model 3 Highland refresh, we’ll see Juniper arrive in China first and then make its way to North America and Europe by the end of 2025. The performance variants should launch in early 2026, after the standard models.
If you’re excited about Juniper, so are we! Check out our wishlist of features for Tesla’s Model Y refresh, and see everything we know so far.
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