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On July 30, 2020, Panasonic announced an improved 2170-format cylindrical lithium-ion cell developed for Tesla. Panasonic said the revised cell offered approximately 5% higher energy density while using less cobalt, with production planned for September 2020 at its Nevada battery operation. The change could help Tesla increase range, reduce battery weight, or lower material exposure—but it did not mean every Tesla gained 5% more driving range.
What Panasonic changed
The announcement concerned Panasonic’s 2170 cylindrical cell, used in Tesla applications including the Model 3 and Model Y. Panasonic planned to begin producing the revised cell in September 2020 at its battery operation inside Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada.
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At the time, Panasonic said the Nevada operation had 13 production lines and approximately 35 GWh of annual capacity. The company intended eventually to transition all 13 lines, but it did not provide a timetable for completing that changeover.
Panasonic described two main changes:
- Approximately 5% higher energy density.
- Reduced cobalt content.
The original announcement did not disclose the precise cobalt percentage for this particular cell revision. Panasonic’s announcement was reported at the time by TechCrunch.
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What “2170” means
2170 is a nominal cylindrical-cell format. Panasonic describes the cell as approximately 21 mm in diameter and 70 mm tall. The designation is often written as 21700 in the broader battery industry, but it identifies a physical format—not one universal battery with identical chemistry or performance.
Two 2170 cells can differ in capacity, power output, cooling requirements, cycle life and cathode chemistry. A Tesla using Panasonic cells therefore cannot automatically be assumed to have the same battery behavior as a similar vehicle using cells from another supplier.
Energy density is not the same as vehicle range
Energy density measures how much stored energy a battery contains per unit of mass or volume. Gravimetric energy density concerns weight; volumetric energy density concerns physical space.
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- More range: Keep a broadly similar battery pack and store more usable energy.
- Lower weight: Preserve capacity while using fewer or lighter cells.
- Smaller packs: Reach a target range with less battery volume.
- Lower material exposure: Reduce the quantity of costly or supply-constrained materials needed for a given capacity.
- More design flexibility: Use the improvement for thermal headroom, performance or packaging rather than range alone.
None of those outcomes was guaranteed by the 2020 announcement. A 5% cell-level energy-density increase does not automatically produce a 5% increase in an EPA-rated vehicle’s range. Vehicle range also depends on usable state-of-charge limits, pack structure, cooling hardware, software, vehicle weight, aerodynamics, tires and wheels, temperature and overall drivetrain efficiency.
The improvement also did not necessarily mean faster charging, longer life or better cold-weather performance. Those characteristics depend on the complete cell and vehicle system.
The chemistry: NCA, not cobalt-free
The cell used NCA chemistry: nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide. NCA generally prioritizes high energy density, while still using nickel and cobalt. It is distinct from the nickel-manganese-cobalt family commonly abbreviated NCM or NMC.
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“Lower cobalt” is therefore not the same as “cobalt-free.” Panasonic said its NCA chemistry used less cobalt than NCM chemistry and that it was working toward cobalt-free batteries. Its research and development work on cobalt-free cells should not be confused with the production cell announced for Tesla in 2020.
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Panasonic later said it had reduced cobalt through the use of alternative elements and surface treatment. In later corporate material, it described cobalt content below 5% in its batteries. That is a broader, later company statement—not a disclosed specification for the specific 2020 Tesla cell. Panasonic explains its NCA chemistry and cobalt-reduction work here.
Why reducing cobalt mattered
Cobalt has historically mattered to battery makers for three main reasons.
Cost
Cobalt has been an expensive and price-sensitive battery material. Using less can reduce a cell maker’s exposure to commodity-price swings, although Panasonic did not publish a per-cell or per-kilowatt-hour savings figure for this revision.
Supply-chain risk
Cobalt supply has been geographically concentrated and subject to geopolitical, labor and ethical concerns. Lower consumption can reduce—but does not eliminate—those risks.
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Materials engineering
Cobalt contributes to the stability and performance of layered cathode structures. Reducing it is not simply a matter of removing an ingredient. Higher nickel content and other formulation changes can bring additional demands involving thermal behavior, cycle aging and manufacturing control.
Nor does less cobalt automatically make a battery safer. Safety depends on the cell’s full design, including the cathode, anode, separator, electrolyte, manufacturing quality, battery-management system, cooling system and pack structure. Reducing cobalt also does not remove the environmental impacts associated with lithium, nickel, graphite, aluminum, manufacturing energy, mining and recycling.
Where the Tesla cells were made
Panasonic’s Nevada operation was the manufacturing base identified in the 2020 announcement. The planned September start and the 13-line, approximately 35-GWh figure were historical 2020 details, not current capacity figures.
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How it fit Tesla’s wider battery strategy
Tesla was pursuing several battery paths at once. Panasonic’s improved 2170 was an evolution of a format already relevant to Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y applications. Tesla was also developing its own 4680 cylindrical-cell program and using other suppliers and chemistries in different vehicles and markets.
Those programs should not be merged into one specification. A Panasonic 2170 cell, a Tesla 4680 cell and cells from other suppliers can differ substantially even when they serve similar vehicles.
The 2170 format also remained commercially important beyond the original Nevada announcement. Panasonic later expanded its North American battery plans, including a Kansas facility intended to produce 2170 cells. Panasonic initially described 30 GWh of planned Kansas capacity, while a later announcement referred to approximately 32 GWh of planned annual capacity and mass production at the facility. Those later figures concern newer production, not the 2020 Nevada cell specification.
What later Panasonic data does—and does not—tell us
Panasonic’s later roadmap called for another 5% energy-density improvement for next-generation 2170 cells by fiscal 2026. Later company material also described newer-generation 2170 cells exceeding 800 Wh/L in volumetric energy density, alongside longer-term goals involving still higher densities.
Those figures show that Panasonic continued developing the 2170 platform. They do not prove that the 2020 Tesla cell had an energy density above 800 Wh/L, nor that a particular Tesla vehicle received every later Panasonic improvement. Model year, factory, market, battery-pack revision, supplier, software, trim and operating conditions can all affect performance.
- Panasonic’s 2170 development roadmap
- Panasonic’s 2024 integrated report
- Panasonic’s explanation of 2170 energy-density targets
What the announcement did not prove
- It did not establish a 5% increase in Tesla vehicle range.
- It did not say the production cell was cobalt-free.
- It did not show that every Tesla received the revised Panasonic cell.
- It did not disclose the exact cobalt percentage in that cell.
- It did not prove the battery became 5% cheaper.
- It did not mean every 2170 cell has the same capacity or performance.
Why the announcement mattered
Panasonic’s 2020 announcement illustrated an important reality of EV development: meaningful progress does not always arrive as a completely new cell format. Incremental improvements to chemistry and manufacturing can increase the energy available in an existing package, reduce dependence on expensive materials and give automakers more choices about range, weight, cost and vehicle design.
For Tesla, the practical value was not a guaranteed 5% range increase. It was the option to turn a cell-level gain into whichever vehicle-level benefit best fit its engineering and production priorities.
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