Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, aptly dubbed Battery Day, takes place September 22, 2020, after being pushed back due to the ongoing pandemic. While there’s rampant chatter of new entry-level models and a revolutionary million-mile battery, both may be a ways away. Patrick Hummel, analyst at the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), detailed what we can expect to see at Battery Day in a report published on Friday.
Hummel predicts the highlight of Battery Day to be a new cell technology based on a dry electrode design, according to Yahoo Finance. The dry electrode technology is rumored to allow for ~50% higher energy density, kicking the current maximum capacity of 260 Wh/k all the way up to 400 Wh/k.
Many exciting things will be unveiled on Battery Day 9/22 ⚡️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 11, 2020
The new battery has been widely speculated to be cobalt-free. In addition, rumors also suggest Tesla will be manufacturing the new cells in-house at their Fremont installation.
The new batteries, based on Maxwell’s dry electrode battery technology, will last much longer than predecessors. Could this be the much-talked-about million-mile battery?
Hummel believes Tesla will have to bring “something else” to the table in addition to new battery technology if the tech giant hopes to have a significant impact on stock prices. The UBS analyst put forth a new next-generation Supercharger, refreshes of the Model S and Model X, and “Plaid” variants of the Model S and/or Model X with the new dry electrode battery under the hood as candidates for this elusive something else.
Hummel expects to receive updates on Tesla’s progress with full self-driving technology at Battery Day, but the analyst believes the announcement of any considerable breakthroughs to be unlikely.
In view of increased margins and volume, Hummel increased his price target on Tesla stock per share from $160 to $325. The UBS analyst also cited Tesla’s seemingly eternal lead in battery costs and an opportunity for higher AV revenue as driving factors for his decision.
