Tesla 4680 Battery Quietly Returns to Model Y

2026-02-03 | Calvin

On January 29, Tesla has quietly begun introducing its self-developed 4680 battery pack to some Model Y vehicles. However, this time, the company’s motivation is no longer about "disruptive battery technology." Instead, it’s driven by "tariffs and supply chain risks" as well as the underwhelming sales of the Cybertruck, which has led to limited battery consumption. For comparison, it has been over two years since Tesla halted the 4680 version of Model Y to prioritize Cybertruck production capacity.

In Tesla's Q4 2025 shareholder letter, the company disclosed: "We have begun producing 4680 battery packs for some Model Y vehicles, adding an additional supply source to address the increasingly complex supply chain challenges caused by trade barriers and tariff risks."

Tesla also stated that progress has been made in domestic battery manufacturing in the United States: "We have currently achieved mass production of the 4680 dry electrode process in Austin, Texas, with both the anode and cathode being locally manufactured. We expect the domestic anode material production line in Texas and the LFP battery production line in Nevada to be operational by 2026." However, it’s important to note that this refers more to "installed production capacity" and does not equate to current actual output.

The 4680 battery project has been a topic of ongoing discussion since its announcement in September 2020. At the time, Elon Musk claimed that this new battery would reduce battery costs by half, making it possible to price a $25,000 Tesla model. However, the actual progress has not been as smooth as initially envisioned.

The timeline shows that in February 2022, Tesla announced it had produced its one-millionth 4680 battery at the Kato Road pilot production line in California. In April of the same year, the first Model Y vehicles equipped with the 4680 battery began delivery to employees. By December 2022, the weekly production of the 4680 battery reached 868,000 units, which could meet the demand for 1,000 Model Y vehicles per week. In April 2023, Tesla officially opened orders for the Model Y AWD version equipped with the 4680 battery, priced at $49,990. However, by September 2023, this version was quietly removed from the U.S. website. At the time, there was widespread speculation that Tesla needed to redirect limited 4680 production capacity to the upcoming Cybertruck. When the Cybertruck began deliveries in November 2023, it became the only model to use the 4680 battery. However, from 2024 to 2025, the Cybertruck's market performance was disappointing, and the battery demand was far below expectations. By December 2025, Tesla’s 4680 supply chain partner, L&F, signed a $2.9 billion cathode material supply contract with Tesla, but had to write down over 99% of it, reducing the amount to just $7,386 due to "changes in supply quantity." In January 2026, Tesla announced the return of the 4680 battery to some Model Y variants.

Compared to the previous narrative of "ushering in a new era of low-cost, high-energy-density batteries," the positioning of the 4680 battery's return is now entirely different. Tesla explicitly describes it as a supply chain diversification measure to hedge against "trade barriers and tariff risks." In other words, should Tesla’s battery supply be impacted by tariffs or export restrictions, the company hopes that domestic battery cell production capacity in the U.S. can serve as a backup. The $25,000 Tesla model plan that was once highly anticipated and dependent on the 4680 battery has now been explicitly shelved by Elon Musk.

Some believe that this actually represents an indirect acknowledgment of the slower-than-expected progress of the 4680 battery project. Five years after its launch, this battery, originally seen as the "core of cost revolution," is now more viewed as a "safety cushion" to deal with uncertainties in trade policies.