Tesla Cybercab battery: in-house nickel cathode from Gigafactory Texas

© Elon Musk

Tesla has assembled the first Cybercab using cathode material produced in-house. The official Robotaxi account said the car used material from Tesla's own cathode facility, while Elon Musk clarified that it was a nickel cathode made directly at Gigafactory Texas.

The development adds an important detail to the Cybercab program, whose production Tesla has already started in Austin. The company is bringing another key and costly lithium-ion battery component inside its own manufacturing chain instead of buying finished cathode material from outside suppliers.

In August, Tesla North America said the Austin facility had become the first large-scale cathode-material manufacturing operation in North America and was part of the 4680 cell production chain. That does not, however, confirm that the Cybercab shown here uses 4680 cells: Tesla did not identify the cell format in the new statement.

There is also no confirmation of any change to the vehicle's specifications. Tesla did not disclose the cathode chemistry beyond Musk's description of a nickel cathode, nor did it reveal the Cybercab's battery capacity, cell cost, driving range or savings versus purchased material. For now, this is primarily a manufacturing-localization milestone rather than the announcement of a new battery.

Gigafactory Texas already combines several major Tesla processes. Vehicles are built at the same site, and now Tesla's own cathode material has made its way directly into a completed Cybercab.

For Tesla, that reduces the number of outside links between material production and the finished vehicle and could provide more control over costs and supply. The economic effect cannot yet be measured, because Tesla has disclosed neither how much in-house cathode material was used for the Cybercab nor the actual reduction in battery cost.