4680 Mass Production Tracker: Tesla, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, and CATL’s Roadmaps
On September 22, 2020, Tesla unveiled the 4680 large-format cylindrical cell at its Battery Day event—46mm in diameter, 80mm in height, tabless electrode, dry electrode process, and a structural battery-pack vision. The industry’s reaction was half awe, half wait-and-see. In lithium-ion manufacturing, the distance between “building a beautiful sample” and “producing millions of units at above 90% yield” is often longer than the distance from lab bench to prototype.
Six years later, in 2026, that blueprint has become a deliverable industrial reality on the Austin production line. Meanwhile, from Wakayama, Japan, to Ochang, South Korea, and Ningde, China, a multi-polar capacity race around the 46-series large-cylindrical cell has entered full throttle.
In this article, we trace Tesla’s technical journey on the 4680, and then track the latest mass-production timelines and strategic moves of Panasonic, LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and CATL across 2025–2026. At OneAndes, we have long tracked the technological evolution of cylindrical lithium cells across the full size spectrum, from 10440 to 4680. If you are looking to systematically understand how different cylindrical form factors map to diverse applications—from consumer electronics to EVs—our Complete Guide to Cylindrical Battery Sizes is the best entry point for grasping why the 4680 has become an industry focal point.
Part 1: The 4680 Technology Deck — Not Just a Bigger 2170
Dismissing the 4680 as merely an enlarged 2170 is the deepest misreading of this technology. The 4680 is not an isolated dimensional upgrade; it is a systemic solution built on four integrated innovations.
First, the tabless electrode. In a conventional cylindrical cell, current must travel along the entire winding length to reach a single narrow metal tab—long path, high internal resistance, concentrated heat. The 4680’s tabless design turns the entire foil edge into a current pathway: electrons only need to travel the cell’s axial height before being collected by the current-collector disc. Internal resistance drops significantly, heat generation during ultra-fast charging improves dramatically—this is the physical foundation enabling the 4680 to pair with 800V high-voltage fast-charging platforms.
Second, the dry electrode process. This is the most difficult and revolutionary component of the entire 4680 technology stack. Traditional wet electrode manufacturing requires mixing active materials with solvents into a slurry, coating onto current collectors, and passing through drying ovens tens of meters long—consuming 30–50% of a battery factory’s total energy, with toxic NMP solvent requiring recovery systems. The dry process presses powder and PTFE binder directly into a film, eliminating coating, drying, and solvent recovery in one stroke—theoretically enabling smaller factory footprints, lower energy consumption, and reduced costs. The bottleneck: cathode materials (high-nickel oxides) are far harder to press into uniform films without solvents than graphite anodes. Mechanical strain causes film cracking, directly undermining yield. This was precisely the root cause that stalled the 4680’s scale-up for years.
Third, high-nickel cathode and silicon-based anode. An NMC811 cathode (nickel content >80%, nearly cobalt-free) paired with a silicon-based anode stacks far higher energy density than legacy 2170 cells. Public teardown data shows the first-generation 4680 cell weighs approximately 355g, with an estimated total energy between 96–99Wh. Subsequent iterations have pushed cell-level energy density to 280–300Wh/kg, delivering a system-level improvement of over 15% versus 2170-based packs.
Fourth, CTB/CTC structural integration. The 4680 cell serves directly as a load-bearing structural member embedded into the vehicle chassis, eliminating the traditional module-and-pack hierarchy. This reduces curb weight while maximizing system-level energy density.
The interweaving of these four technologies gives the 4680 a cost curve with a logic unlike any previous battery format: it saves money not through cheaper materials, but through a manufacturing revolution and structural integration that simultaneously compresses cell production costs and pack-level structural costs, achieving systemic vehicle-platform cost reduction.
For users seeking high-capacity solutions for power tools or energy storage projects, OneAndes has curated a matrix of 3,000–5,800mAh cells from Samsung, Molicel, Panasonic, LG, and EVE on the 21700 Battery Category Page. The 21700—as the most mature form factor in the transition from consumer-grade to large-cylindrical—provides an intuitive reference baseline for understanding the 46-series technological leap.
Part 2: Tesla — The Six-Year Marathon from Concept to Full Dry Electrode Mass Production
Tesla’s 4680 production journey is a textbook case covering nearly every battery manufacturing challenge.
2020 Battery Day concept unveiled. By late 2022, Tesla reached a production rate of 868,000 4680 cells per week at Giga Texas—enough for approximately 1,000 Model Y vehicles. In April 2023, the cheaper Model Y AWD with 4680 cells finally opened for public orders at $49,990. But the product at this stage used a hybrid “dry anode + wet cathode” process—the core cathode dry-coating challenge remained unsolved.
The real inflection point arrived in Q4 2025. Tesla formally announced in its annual financial update that Giga Texas had achieved mass production with dry electrode processing for both cathode and anode—marking the first time the dry cathode, widely regarded as the “holy grail of battery manufacturing,” crossed the chasm from lab to industrial scale. In February 2026, Elon Musk posted on social media congratulating the engineering team.
By March 2026, industry media further confirmed production-line details: yield surpassing 92%, cell manufacturing cost reduced by approximately 30%, and pack-level structural costs cut by an additional roughly 14%. The new Model Y and Cybertruck equipped with full-dry-electrode 4680 cells rolled out to market simultaneously. Real-world tests showed approximately 400 km of range replenished in 10 minutes, and cycle life stably maintained above roughly 2,000 cycles. In April 2026, Tesla celebrated the production of its one-millionth 4680 cell. The Shanghai Gigafactory’s 50 GWh 4680 production line entered equipment commissioning, with batch production expected in Q2 2026.
At this point, Tesla’s 4680 supply footprint has taken initial shape: Texas and Nevada serve as the dual primary supply base for North America, while Shanghai covers the Asia-Pacific market. From a technology-timeline perspective, the production-readiness journey since September 2020 spans roughly 5.5 years, with cathode dry-coating yield improvement alone consuming approximately several years of R&D.
It is worth emphasizing: the real commercial value of the full dry electrode process lies not in an energy-density leap, but in economics. As Tesla has noted, the 272 Wh/kg previously demonstrated in the Cybertruck reflected changes to cathode chemistry and cell structure, not the new manufacturing process. Dry processing’s core contribution is a smaller factory, lower energy consumption, and a shorter production cycle—a cost restructuring at the production-line level, not merely a materials-formulation optimization.
Part 3: Panasonic — Tesla’s Long-Standing Ally Graduates First
Among Tesla’s supplier camp, Panasonic has moved fastest.
In September 2024, Panasonic Energy announced it had completed preparations for mass production of 4680 cells at its renovated plant in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The facility, previously used for automotive battery components, has been transformed into the “mother factory” for 4680 cells—serving as the validation and demonstration site for new products and processes. A Panasonic spokesperson stated that samples of the 4680 cells had been sent to several automakers with existing supply relationships, with formal production to begin upon customer approval. Initial annual production capacity was planned at several gigawatt-hours.
Panasonic positions the 4680 as the successor to the 2170, noting that the larger cells allow automakers to use fewer cells to achieve the same pack capacity, thereby simplifying pack structure and assembly. While Panasonic has not yet released full technical specifications for its 4680 cells, the manufacturing expertise accumulated over decades of 1865/2170 cylindrical cell production—particularly in high-speed winding and consistency control—constitutes its core competitive moat for accelerating mass production and reaching benchmark yields first.
Part 4: LG Energy Solution — From Diversified Form Factors to a Multi-Billion-Dollar BMW Deal
LG Energy Solution’s strategy for 46-series cylindrical cells differs from Tesla’s and Panasonic’s: it targets not just the 4680, but the full 46-series family spanning 4680 to 46120, serving multiple global OEM customers simultaneously.
In Q4 2025, LGES began mass production of 46-series cells (starting with the 4695 format) at its Ochang plant in South Korea, and ramped up supply volumes through Q1 2026. These initial cells were supplied to O&J Automotive, a subsidiary of China’s Chery Automobile. More significantly, LGES secured over 100 GWh in new 46-series orders during Q1 2026 alone. As of the end of April 2026, its cumulative 46-series order backlog exceeded 440 GWh.
In May 2026, industry reports revealed the core destination of these new orders: LGES secured a cylindrical battery deal with BMW worth approximately 10 trillion Korean won, spanning a supply period of roughly 10 years. This marks LGES’s first cylindrical battery supply for BMW’s pure electric vehicles. Previously, LGES had supplied 46-series cylindrical batteries to Mercedes-Benz, Rivian, and Chery Automobile. In the United States, the Arizona plant is expected to begin production by year-end 2026, with an annual capacity of 36 GWh, producing the full range from 4680 to 46120. LGES is also evaluating the feasibility of converting idle capacity at its Poland plant into a European 46-series production line.
LGES’s strategy is crystal clear: diversified form factors to match varied customer requirements, regionalized capacity (Korea → U.S. → Europe) to meet local production mandates, and a three-morphology battery matrix—cylindrical, pouch, and prismatic—to cover the full vehicle price spectrum from entry-level to high-performance. This strategy was partially validated in Q1 2026: despite an overall operating loss (largely attributable to inventory adjustments by a major North American customer), the order inflow for 46-series cylindrical batteries was the standout growth highlight.
Part 5: Samsung SDI — A Later-Stage 46-Series Timeline
Samsung SDI has taken a comparatively measured approach to the 46-series cylindrical race. In 2024, its CEO announced a target of completing production readiness for 46mm-diameter cells by early 2025. However, as of mid-2026, there has been no public confirmation of substantial mass production having commenced.
Samsung SDI is currently channeling the bulk of its R&D and capacity resources toward all-solid-state batteries (ASB)—targeting mass production in 2027—as well as LFP and sodium-ion batteries. Its joint venture factory with General Motors in the U.S. (planned capacity 27 GWh, upgradeable to 36 GWh) will primarily produce prismatic cells. Samsung SDI’s seemingly slower pace in 46-series is offset by its differentiated lead in solid-state battery deployment.
Part 6: CATL and EVE — The Chinese Contingent Accelerates Entry
In April 2026, Korean media outlet Business Korea reported that CATL, EVE Energy, and CBAK plan to begin mass production of 4680 cylindrical cells within the year. EVE and CBAK are actively expanding NCM cylindrical cell production capacity, with planned capacity reaching approximately 5 times that of their existing cylindrical lines and output doubling.
CATL began small-batch delivery of its 4695 cells to customers in 2025, with product energy density ranking among the industry’s highest. Its Debrecen gigafactory in Hungary (planned 100 GWh) is expected to begin full-scale production in early 2026, serving European customers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz. EVE Energy’s large-cylinder line utilization rate has already exceeded 85%, with the gross margin of its large-cylinder business running nearly 5 percentage points higher than traditional products—making it a key driver of the company’s return to profitability in 2025.
Industry analysts forecast that global large-cylinder battery installations will exceed 200 GWh in 2026, accounting for over 15% of total power battery installations—a leap from less than 5% in 2024. The jump from sub-5% to above 15% is itself the most powerful market vote for the 46-series technology pathway.
Part 7: The 2026 Showdown — Five Key Dimensions to Watch
Dimension One: Yield Is Everything. The cost advantage of 46-series large-cylinder cells can only materialize when mass-production yield is stable at scale. Tesla has pulled yield above 92% with its dry process, but whether this methodology can be rapidly replicated on other manufacturers’ lines remains to be tested. Large-cylinder cells impose stricter process requirements on tab welding, electrolyte filling, and other steps; early movers’ lead on the yield curve could translate into an enduring cost moat.
Dimension Two: Dry or Wet? Tesla’s full-dry success theoretically exposes the cost disadvantage of wet processing. But for traditional wet-manufacturing giants like Panasonic and LGES, their decades of process know-how, supply-chain relationships, and customer lock-in won’t be dismantled overnight. In an industry where process stability and batch-to-batch consistency are paramount, the risk of pathway switching cannot be underestimated.
Dimension Three: Regionalized Capacity. The IRA’s requirement for 40% localized battery materials by 2027 compels every manufacturer to build local capacity in North America. LGES’s Arizona, Tesla’s Texas/Nevada, and Panasonic’s Kansas currently form the triangular backbone of North American 46-series capacity.
Dimension Four: The 46-Series Customer Roster Is Expanding Rapidly. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Rivian, Porsche, Li Auto—the list of automakers planning to equip next-generation models with large-cylinder batteries is growing fast. This is not Tesla’s game alone; it is an emerging technical standard.
Dimension Five: Solid-State Batteries Are Not “Dead”—the Battlefield Has Shifted. With the 4680 reaching production maturity in 2026, the conversation around solid-state batteries in passenger vehicles has pivoted from “When will they become ubiquitous?” to “Which niche applications will adopt them first?” Semi-solid-state cells are already entering small-scale vehicle integration, while all-solid-state cells remain in the pilot phase, with large-scale commercial readiness expected around 2030. These two are not substitutes; they solve different problems on different timelines and along different cost curves.
Part 8: The OneAndes Perspective — From Cells to Systems, Selection & Accessories
The 4680’s mass production is not merely a supply-chain event for automakers—it also carries profound implications for the broader cylindrical lithium battery ecosystem. Industrial-grade energy storage, power tools, and high-power portable devices will all benefit from the technological spillover of large-cylinder battery advances in production efficiency and structural integration.
At OneAndes, we recommend the following three hub pages for precise selection:
Complete Guide to Cylindrical Battery Sizes (Blog): A systematic understanding of cell performance positioning and application mapping across all sizes from 10440 to 4680.
21700 Battery Category Page: The most mature form factor in the consumer-to-large-cylindrical transition, featuring a curated matrix of cells from Samsung, Molicel, Panasonic, LG, and EVE.
Molicel P45B 21700 4500mAh 45A Ultra-High-Drain Cell (Product Page): Supports reliable discharge down to −40°C, with a 0.2s DCR of merely 7.86mΩ—the current benchmark for high-power and low-temperature applications.
Additionally, the OneAndes Official Shop Hub supports five-dimensional cross-selection—by size, chemistry, capacity, discharge rate, and casing form factor—with one-stop accessory solutions spanning batteries, protection boards, nickel strips, cell holders, and chargers.
Conclusion: The 4680 Story Has Only Just Entered Its Main Act
If Battery Day 2020 was a promise, 2026 is the year that promise began to be kept.
From the sustained operation of Tesla’s full-dry-electrode lines at Giga Texas, to Panasonic’s completion of preparations at its Wakayama mother plant, to LGES’s 4695 mass production in Ochang and the imminent launch of its Arizona facility—the 4680 has crossed the critical inflection point from “Can it be mass-produced?” to “Who can produce it faster, cheaper, and at greater scale?”
Yet this is only the prologue. When the yield ceiling of the full-dry process is pushed even higher, when the cycle-life constraint of silicon-based anodes is broken, and when CTB/CTC structural integration cascades from premium vehicles into mainstream models—only then will the 4680’s true impact unfold in full. This race does not end in 2026.