From Tesla’s Battery Day, Tesla revealed their ideas for the future and what they are working to achieve. Tesla wants to manufacture their own battery, process raw materials, and talk about mining their own lithium. Tesla’s plans to find and make their own material will severely decrease the cost of their cars by thousands of dollars.

Tesla is planning to mine its own lithium, impressing many by their commitment to their cars and how far they would go to bring quality to the table. On the other hand, many still found this incredibly unrealistic and extremely difficult to actually execute. For example, Chris Berry, president of House Mountain Partners and an analyst on energy metals, stated “It is ill-advised…it would be extremely difficult- not unlike landing a rocket on an autonomous barge in the ocean…it’s a radically different business”. This is seen as a valid statement because it addresses the fact that mining lithium is a completely different business than car manufacturing.This is Elon Musk, so it isn’t unfathomable  for him to attempt to succeed at a new enterprise. Musk is known for his crazy ideas that have been successful, like  SpaceX and even their electrical power sources. If Tesla were  to mine their own lithium, it will allow the company to start making their cars cheaper, which would increase their accessibility and possibly further improve the environment with a higher prevalence of Teslas on the roads.

One of the biggest impacts the lithium and construction of their own batteries will be the heavy decrease of price in future cars. Musk announced “by cutting the cost of batteries by more than half, Tesla will be able to make an electric car that costs the same as or less than a combustion engine vehicle. The estimated cost for the car will be around $25,000. In an interview with YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Musk said “I think in order for us to get up to…a $25,000 car, that’s something we can do. But if we work really hard I think maybe we can do that in about 3 years”. Interestingly, this interview took place in 2018 – that is, Elon stated this idea and has worked hard to make it possible. On top of the price cut for future Tesla cars, there is speculation that  new “tabless” battery cells will be released. These larger cells mean more energy. The idea of these new batteries are cheaper and way more efficient. The only thing needed to happen is for a larger production of these batteries and it can be achieved by next year.

On top of the new $25,000 car, there is also a new model S coming out. This will be a stepping stone for everything Tesla is trying to achieve with affordable electric cars. Tesla will release the Model S Plaid. This car is 1100 horsepower For reference, some of the most powerful cars in the world are only 1000 horsepower, such as the brand new Hummer EV and The Mclaren Speed Trial. On top of 1000 horsepower it will also be able to go from 0-60 in less than two seconds. The top of this speed will also reach 200 MPH. This car is currently starting to look like a racing car with 0-60 in an unreal 2 second time, 200 miles per hour top speed, 1100 horsepower. This car has an estimated 520 mile range. This car has it all, but of course for a car like this you will need to pay a very serious price. The Model S is currently $69,420 for the long range and $89,490 for performance. The Plaid edition will run a minimum of $134,490. This is incredibly pricey but when compared to the performance and long range Model S you see why it will cost so much. This car is definitely the right step to the future of Tesla cars.

Tesla Battery Day has brought a lot of interesting ideas and future plans to the consumers of Tesla. The future of this company will be an interesting one to see play out but with the future of Tesla cars appears to be going in the right direction.