Tesla Battery Cell Production Tour Included At Coming Tesla Shareholder Meeting

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Elon Musk tweeted recently that a new date has been set for the annual meeting of shareholders and Tesla Battery Day, both of which have been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came with a bonus.

Okay, where will the annual meeting and tour of Tesla battery cell production be held? We don’t know yet. So far as anyone knows, battery production in the US only takes place at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada. The original location for the annual meeting scheduled for July 7 was the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California — just a hop, skip, and rocket-assisted jump away from Tesla headquarters. Update: Elon said on Twitter that the event would probably be held in Fremont, California.

The annual meeting will feature some shareholder initiatives that do not have the support of the Tesla board of directors, including a proposal that Tesla begin advertising its cars the way other manufacturers do (via TV commercials and such). It’s a little known fact that automakers spend about $1000 on advertising for each new car sold. New car dealers may spend almost $800 more per car, bringing the total cost of advertising for each new car that drives off the lot to nearly $2,000. (Those numbers are averages and vary by manufacturer, model, and area of the country.)

Other shareholder initiatives that will be voted on at the meeting include a proposal regarding simple majority voting in some circumstances, reporting on employee arbitration, and a proposal for additional reporting on human rights.

Tesla Battery Day ????

The list of topics people want to hear about during Battery Day includes news about the so-called million-mile battery, information about what Jeff Dahn and his researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia are up to, news about changes to battery chemistry, electrode composition, how the technology developed by Maxwell is being incorporated into Tesla’s batteries, how the technology developed by Maxwell is being used to manufacture batteries more cheaply, and what Tesla’s plans are in the medium to long term for producing its own battery cells (it currently produces its own modules and packs, but not the cells).

Finally, the big question on everyone’s lips is, “What is Tesla’s current cost for batteries at the cell and pack level?” We likely won’t get that information, as it is not typically shared in this industry and Elon Musk has held his tongue on the question several times in recent years.

However, we can all be dreamers. Hopefully all of those questions and more will be answered in full on September 15.


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Steve Hanley

Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Florida or anywhere else The Force may lead him. He is proud to be "woke" and doesn't really give a damn why the glass broke. He believes passionately in what Socrates said 3000 years ago: "The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new." You can follow him on Substack and LinkedIn but not on Fakebook or any social media platforms controlled by narcissistic yahoos.

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