Elon Musk promised for years that Tesla would produce a $25,000 electric car to make electric cars accessible to the masses. However, the final nail may have finally been hammered into the coffin of that promise. Battery material supplier L&F announced on Monday that the value of its high-nickel cathode supply agreement with Tesla had been reduced by 99%. The $2.9 billion contract signed in 2023 is now worth just $7,386. Electrek reports.
The materials supplied by L&F were intended to dramatically increase production of Tesla’s 4680 battery cells. However, the electric car maker no longer needs a flood of cells for its assembly lines as Cybertruck demand falls far short of Tesla’s expectations and the company also scrapped plans for its affordable mass-market model. Musk claimed Tesla would build 250,000 Cybertrucks per year, but only sold about 16,000 pickups in the first three quarters of 2025. With the Cybertruck being the main destination for 4680 cells, the components were no longer in high demand as thousands of unsold trucks sat in lots.
The Model 2 is dead, but there is a new promise in the pipeline
Now that the supply of 4,680 battery cells has been reduced to a trickle, what’s next for Tesla? After shareholders approved his trillion-dollar compensation package in November, Musk claimed the special Robotaxi would go into production next April. However, he also stated that the company’s Optimus robots would be an “infinite money mistake” at the same shareholder meeting. Those clankers can’t even hand out bottled water right now, even with the help of a remote control.
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