①Tesla stated that the dry electrode manufacturing process can reduce costs, energy consumption, and factory complexity. ②It has been nearly two years since Tesla finalized the design of its dry cathode 4680 battery. ③Tesla's Chief Financial Officer stated that the biggest constraint on FSD globally remains battery pack production.
The STAR Market Daily News reported on February 2nd: On February 1st local time, Musk posted on social media: “Achieving scalable production of the dry electrode process represents a significant breakthrough in lithium battery production technology, with extremely high difficulty. Congratulations to the Tesla engineering, production, and supply chain teams as well as our strategic partner suppliers for this outstanding achievement.”
Subsequently, $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ The official team reposted the message and replied: 'The dry electrode manufacturing process reduces costs, energy consumption, and factory complexity while significantly enhancing scalability.'
Just recently, Tesla announced a patent named 'Composition and Preparation Method of Low Binder Content Dry Electrode Films.' By first mixing active materials with conductive carbon and then adding dry binders in a specific sequence, it avoids particle damage caused by high shear forces. The patent specifies that the conductive carbon content must not exceed 8% by weight, and the binder usage should be below 2%.
The dry electrode process, also known as the dry method, is one of the upstream sheet-forming methods for solid-state batteries. Traditional lithium battery electrode production predominantly uses the wet method: mixing electrode/electrolyte materials with binders into a slurry, followed by coating and drying to complete film formation. In contrast, the dry method eliminates solvent use and drying steps, relying more on high-shear dry mixing and fibrillation equipment to achieve uniform material dispersion and preforming, directly completing the film-forming process through multi-roll compaction.
In recent years, Tesla has consistently emphasized dry electrodes as a core manufacturing process for battery production, claiming it will make the 4680 battery the ‘complete version.’ It has now been nearly two years since the finalization of the dry cathode 4680 battery design in 2024.
Why is battery technology so crucial? Recently, Tesla's Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja stated during an earnings call: '(FSD) The biggest constraint globally remains battery pack production. Although our team has worked hard to alleviate this issue through innovations such as applying the 4680 battery to non-structural battery packs, we are continuously optimizing related technologies.'
From an industry-wide perspective, Dongwu Securities noted that the wet method remains the primary choice for solid-state battery production lines. However, the dry method, with its comprehensive advantages in cost, process, and material compatibility, is gradually becoming the mainstream direction for next-generation upstream processes in solid-state batteries. Domestically, according to incomplete statistics from the STAR Market Daily News, some companies are actively positioning themselves in the dry method process.
Sanfu New Materials announced last May that the company plans to invest 620 million yuan in constructing a high-safety dry electrode battery key materials and high-frequency electronic information composite materials industrialization project, expected to complete construction by the end of 2027.
Yinghe Technology stated during its earnings presentation that the company has introduced the latest solution covering both wet and dry processes for solid-state batteries.
The investor relations activity record of Nakornel shows that the company will actively cooperate with downstream clients to adjust and optimize dry electrode production equipment, thereby accelerating the industrial application of dry electrode technology.
In terms of investment, GF Securities estimates that global shipments of all-solid-state batteries will reach 181 GWh by 2030. In the early stages of this emerging industry, equipment manufacturers will benefit first. Although the technical route for solid-state batteries has not been fully confirmed yet, compared with liquid batteries, there are changes in the equipment used across all stages of solid-state battery production. These process changes will inevitably create incremental demand for equipment. It is recommended to focus on leading providers of full-line lithium battery solutions with closer ties to top-tier downstream clients, as well as equipment manufacturers benefiting from marginal changes in solid-state battery processes.
Editor/Rice