Tesla introduced its 4680 battery during a massive “Battery Day” event in late 2020 , with company CEO Elon Musk then saying the new battery would more than halve the cost to produce batteries for its cars. This was important for Tesla’s plan to build a $25,000 entry-level EV . The battery exists and has been used to fill up the packs of Cybertrucks and some Texas-built Model Ys, but the entry-level car has been delayed long enough that the company hopes everyone has forgotten about it by now. Despite Tesla having allegedly built 100 million 4680 cells , the founder and boss man of CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited), the world’s largest battery manufacturer, basically said Tesla’s batteries suck shit and Elon is a dummy .
OK, so he didn’t say it in quite those words, but the intent is quite clear. In a recent discussion with Reuters , CATL boss Robin Zeng let his true feelings about Elon Musk out for all to see. The Chinese billionaire has had plenty of opportunity to discuss his feelings face-to-face with the Musk man, as CATL is a major supplier to Tesla’s factory in Shanghai , and is set to supply the Nevada Gigafactory used jointly by Panasonic and Tesla from 2025.