You honestly think mega manufacturers like Panasonic don't have the proper scale for lithium-ion? I'm not denying Elon can cut costs by uber-specializing and cutting out middle-men, but we're looking at maybe 5% or even 10% or so, not 70-80%. Which is what you need to be comparable to ICE cars.
Heck, panasonic is literally making the batteries INSIDE HIS FACTORY. So don't expect big cuts:
"According to the agreement, Tesla will prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings and utilities. Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools based on their mutual approval."
"You honestly think mega manufacturers like Panasonic don't have the proper scale for lithium-ion?"
What is the proper scale? The scale of this factory is the same size as all the other lithium battery plants in the world combined. And do you think Panasonic would be throwing money at it if it thought the numbers were that wrong? This is constantly being presented by some people as a sort of majestic con being perpetrated by Elon, which is just ridiculous when you consider the other players involved.
Its not a con, he knows he can save $trivial_amount domestically. He can probably hit 5% and have ownership of this thing, which is great, but he's not hitting ICE price levels. He's still hitting luxury car price levels. Tesla is a luxury car maker, why is that so hard for people to understand? He competes against Mercedes, Jaguar, etc and wants to sell better to buyers in that class, hence the gigafactory.
He cannot compete with Honda, Chevy, etc. ICE makes far too much sense.
You honestly think mega manufacturers like Panasonic don't have the proper scale for lithium-ion? I'm not denying Elon can cut costs by uber-specializing and cutting out middle-men, but we're looking at maybe 5% or even 10% or so, not 70-80%. Which is what you need to be comparable to ICE cars.
Heck, panasonic is literally making the batteries INSIDE HIS FACTORY. So don't expect big cuts:
"According to the agreement, Tesla will prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings and utilities. Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools based on their mutual approval."
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_AU/blog/panasonic-and-tesla-si...