New battery tech may make EVs cost the same as traditional smog spitters.
Tesla has long been locked in a battle with fundamental chemistry to reach its holy grail: the point on the curve at which its electric vehicles can be sold at a price comparable to gasoline cars. The company might be reaching that inflection point, with Reuters reporting that Tesla will soon introduce a low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China. Given Tesla’s ongoing ascent and technological dominance in the EV sector, the news must be giving rival carmaker’s execs sleepless nights.
The report comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been teasing a “Battery Day” expected to take place in June, where he says the company’s announcements will make it “one of the most exciting days in Tesla’s history.”
Musk has made it clear repeatedly that the cost per kilowatt-hour of Tesla’s batteries has been a major roadblock to selling the cars at a price competitive with traditional internal combustion vehicles. That, in turn, has been an obstacle to their mass adoption. But beyond boosting sales, Musk envisions the new batteries having a second life on the power grid as storage devices, which could help him achieve another goal: A move to a sustainable-energy focused economy.
