Tesla’s Monumental 4680 Battery Breakthrough: Dry Electrode Scaling Unlocks the Future of Affordable EVs
As a seasoned EV enthusiast and tech blogger who’s been tracking Tesla’s battery innovations since the early days of the Model S, I can confidently say this is one of the biggest stories in electric vehicles right now. On February 2, 2026, Elon Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate a hard-fought victory: Tesla has finally scaled the dry electrode process for its revolutionary 4680 battery cells. This isn’t just incremental progress—it’s a paradigm shift that promises cheaper, more efficient batteries at massive scale. In Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2025 shareholder update, the company confirmed it’s producing 4680 cells in Austin with both anode and cathode made via this dry process. And to top it off, Model Y vehicles are now rolling out with these packs. Let’s dive deep into what this means, why it took so long, and how it positions Tesla to dominate the EV wars.