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What is their proprietary secret sauce that makes it the lowest cost?

(OK no one can answer that, but I can wonder aloud.)

More interestingly, how do the high volume battery manufacturers disclose their internal total cost per kWh? Who do they share that with, and how often do they release that information to the public?

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It's lowest cost from their perspective. IOW, it's cheaper for them to make their own batteries, then buy from BYD, LG or Panasonic. That competitor price includes profit margin, the internal cost doesn't, so it's not apples to apples. Amazing achievement regardless.

Also 4680 better than traditional 18650 due to bigger size and therefore less money and space spent on casing

Troy Teslike claims this also includes the $35/kWh tax credit linked below, which would be a substantial boost. I'm not in a position to verify and Troy's content is behind a Patron paywall, so make of that what you will.

This would further imply it's not an apples to apples comparison, but that doesn't change that it's genuinely cheaper for Tesla.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/15/2023-27...

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