Battery equipment Koem has supplied its winder kit to Tesla, TheElec has learned.
The kits will be used by the US electric car maker for its own battery factory that will produce 46800 batteries.
The equipment was supplied to the Tesla factory in Fremont, California.
It will be used for the battery pilot line. The amount of the deal is not known but will likely be around 10 billion won.
Though small, it could later lead to big orders for Koem when Tesla begins commercial battery production in 2022.
Winders are used to make a jelly roll out of cathode, separator and anode. It is the first step in the assembly process for circular battery production. The roll that is made is placed in the can and filled with electrolyte. The cathode and anode tabs are that welded on the can. Then the battery goes through a formation process to go live.
Tesla’s planned 46800 battery is tabless __ this is done to increase battery performance and productivity. The winder must be fast to increase productivity __ they have wrap the materials accurately and quickly. They usually have a speed of 30ppm.
As 46800 batteries are larger than 18650 and 21700 ones, the precision of these winders become more important.
Koem has a long history in designing winders. It has long supplied its kit to Samsung SDI.
In September, Tesla has announced that it plans to produce 3TWh of batteries a year in 2030.
