Rivian’s electric Amazon Prime van has now been spotted a few times in the wild, leaving Tesla fans wondering: when will the company develop its own electric van?
At Tesla’s Q4 2020 earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk responded to an investor question about electric vans, sharing that Tesla would eventually develop its own version, as reported by CNET.
The main barrier to Tesla’s development of an electric van is the same thing holding up much of the rest of the electric vehicle (EV) industry – the ability to quickly mass-produce EV battery cells, considered one of the hottest topics in the field today.
Elon Musk: "Tesla is definitely going to make an electric van at some point. Battery constrain is the reason many products in development aren't being built."
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 28, 2021
Tesla is currently bolstering both its battery partnerships, as well as its ability to manufacture Lithium-ion battery cells itself. The company is currently building a new Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, to which it will eventually add a dedicated lithium hydroxide refinery, in order to eventually create its own 4680 battery cells from scratch.
Still, Tesla will likely rely on other battery suppliers for the time being, and perhaps even still when it does build its own battery cells – especially if demand is to remain nearly as high as it is now.
Regardless, Tesla’s plans to build an electric van hasn’t fallen on deaf ears. Many would likely be interested in an electric van from the company down the road, and, at the very least, Tesla enthusiasts will be excited to hear what comes next following the release of the Cybertruck.
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