Tesla's Giga Texas Hits 4680 Cell Milestone; Musk Addresses Cybertruck Gap Issue

Tesla announced a significant milestone at Giga Texas, producing enough 4680 cells for 1,000 Cybertrucks in one week, while CEO Elon Musk addressed concerns over the Cybertruck's door panel gap.

Giga Texas' Production Leap Signals Bright Future for Tesla Cybertruck Rollout

Tesla's official account for the Cybertruck on X announced the milestone. "At Giga Texas last week, we produced 4680 cells equivalent to over 1,000 Cybertrucks!" the electric vehicle manufacturer noted. The update was well received by members of the EV community, with many stating that the milestone bodes well for the Cybertruck's production ramp.

While Tesla has previously stated that the Cybertruck is not dependent on the company's 4680 battery cell production ramp, the all-electric pickup truck was introduced with the company's next-generation batteries. Thus, for the time being, one of the constraints on Cybertruck production is Tesla's production capacity of 4680 cells.

Tesla watchers, such as The Limiting Factor, which closely monitors the electric vehicle manufacturer's battery efforts, pointed out that Giga Texas' 4680 output equates to a 6.2 GWh per year run rate, per Teslarati. That represents a 24% increase over the 5.0 GWh per year run rate estimated in October 2023. It'd be interesting to see if Tesla would provide some insights into Giga Texas' 4680 production on its Q1 2024 earnings call.

Giga Texas' battery production activities are likely to improve from here on out, so it is unsurprising if the facility's 4680 battery cell output increases even more in the coming months. Even if Tesla's Cybertruck ramp does not improve significantly, Giga Texas' 4680 milestone indicates that approximately 50,000 Cybertrucks could be produced and delivered to customers within the following year.

Elon Musk, for his part, stated in October that Tesla expects to produce approximately 200,000 Cybertrucks per year, with the all-electric pickup truck potentially increasing production to 250,000 units by 2025. Given Giga Texas' 4680 milestone, Tesla is making serious headway into its Cybertruck production plans.

Musk Clarifies Cybertruck's Panel Gap Issue, Cites Loose Door Striker as Culprit

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has explained a somewhat concerning panel gap issue in a Cybertruck Foundation Series unit reviewed by YouTube tech reviewer Marques Brownlee (MKBHD). According to Musk, the apparent panel gap in the video was caused by something other than misaligned panels. Instead, it was the result of a loose door striker.

The Tesla Cybertruck is arguably the most distinctive vehicle being manufactured today. As a result, it was no surprise that MKBHD, one of YouTube's most experienced tech reviewers, created a video about the Cybertruck. While Brownlee pointed out several intriguing advantages to the all-electric pickup truck, he also mentioned that the vehicle he tested had the worst panel gap he'd ever seen in a production car.

Images and videos of Brownlee's Cybertruck review quickly circulated online, and even die-hard Tesla fans chastised the electric vehicle manufacturer for releasing a vehicle with such an obvious flaw — particularly one that should have been detected by quality control. Tesla CEO Elon Musk later responded to some of these comments, stating that approximately 15 Cybertruck units in service had a loose door striker. The CEO also noted that the problem is simple and has since been resolved in production.

"Not a 'door fit' issue. About 15 Cybertrucks in service had an issue where the door striker loosened in the field due to insufficient torque after door fit. This takes five mins to fix in service and has been addressed in production," Musk stated.

While the Cybertruck has received much criticism for the door alignment issue mentioned in MKBHD's review, seeing Elon Musk quickly address the issue on social media is encouraging. Musk's quick response could eventually help debunk any false narratives that may emerge from the tech reviewer's video. After all, the Cybertruck is ultimately a divisive vehicle, with as many people rooting for its failure as for its success.

Photo: Phillip Pessar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons