Battery Hell -- EVs -- Cathodes And Anodes -- An Update -- Decide 21, 2023

Locator: 46370BATTERIES.

Busy, busy day. On today's list:

• Director's Cut: link here.
  
• 177B Bleecker Street, link here.
  
• cathodes:
  
• art
• evolution
• GDP: link here.
  
• OPEC
• Apple (AAPL)
  
• Santa Claus rally: link here.
• Mullen: huge jump in share price today; 1-100 reverse split.
  
• Cintas: nice jump in share price; earnings reporting; best estimates.
  
• French toast
• SNAP: link here.
  
• no shame
  
• winter solstice: 9:27 p.m. tonight, December 21, 2023 -- at this moment, we turn the corner to slightly longer days; also called the hibernal solstice; early 17th century: from late Latin hibernalis, from hibernus ‘wintry’. Shakespeare was at his peak in the early 17th century -- could it be .. let's look -- possibly and probably not -- one source says first used, 1646, but a more authoritative source (OED) suggests 1626, and Sir Henry Neville died 1615, William Shakespeare, 1616. 

As you go through this blog and the linked articles, think about this:

Tesla is undoubtedly the leader in EV battery development and manufacturing.

If Tesla is having this much trouble, imagine the problems GM and Ford face. Both of these companies have stepped back from BEVs, which, of course, gives the advantage to a company that is only involved with BEVs, Tesla.

The Reuter's article is an incredible article. We've discussed it before. 

The terminals:

• cathodes: lithium
• anodes: heavy oil

The Reuter's article linked below leads me back to a nice primer on cathodes and anodes: heavy oil is dead. Long live heavy oil. 

From the linked Reuter's article:

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Elon Musk says prototypes are easy, production is hell. And when it comes to the long-awaited Cybertruck, Tesla's hell is its pioneering 4680 battery.

Tesla delivered the first of its futuristic stainless steel-plated electric pickups last month and CEO Musk said in October that it would probably hit an annual production rate of a quarter of a million vehicles at some point during 2025.

But Tesla is still a long way off that kind of production pace, and one of the main bottlenecks is the speed it can make the 4680 batteries used in the Cybertruck with its new dry-coating technology, nine people familiar with the matter said.

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Elon Musk says prototypes are easy, production is hell. And when it comes to the long-awaited Cybertruck, Tesla's hell is its pioneering 4680 battery.

Tesla delivered the first of its futuristic stainless steel-plated electric pickups last month and CEO Musk said in October that it would probably hit an annual production rate of a quarter of a million vehicles at some point during 2025.

But Tesla is still a long way off that kind of production pace, and one of the main bottlenecks is the speed it can make the 4680 batteries used in the Cybertruck with its new dry-coating technology, nine people familiar with the matter said.

Tesla's Giga Texas factory is currently churning out 4680 battery cells at rate only sufficient to power about 24,000 Cybertrucks a year, or about a 10th of the required output, according to Reuters calculations based on a combination of public data and unpublished figures provided by sources.

Being able to ramp up battery output massively by dry-coating electrodes - rather than using the slower, more costly wet-coating - was a key factor behind Tesla's forecasts in 2020 that it would more than halve battery costs, cut investment significantly, and create smaller, greener factories.

The nine people, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Tesla had yet to crack dry-coating at the industrial scale needed to make 4680 batteries fast enough to hit its production targets.

The people said dry-coating the anode in the 4680 cells was not problematic but Tesla was struggling with the same technique for the cathode - the most expensive component in a battery.