In May 2022, Samsung SDI revealed that the company was developing cylindrical batteries with a 46mm diameter and that it would finalize the design of those batteries by 2023. Now, the CEO of Samsung SDI, Yoon Ho Choi, has announced that the company will make the batteries with 46mm diameter ready for mass production by early 2025.
Choi made the announcement at the InterBattery 2024 event, which was held in Seoul, South Korea from 3 to 8 March 2024. The CEO also revealed that the preparations to start mass production are complete. He didn’t say anything about the scale of this project’s investment but said that the company would increase it from last year.
Samsung SDI 46xx batteries
Currently, there’s no information about the height of Samsung SDI batteries with a 46mm diameter. Previous reports suggest that the company was experimenting with 40mm, 60mm, 90mm, and 120mm heights. For your information, a battery with a 46mm diameter and 40mm height will be called a 4640 battery. For example, Tesla uses a 4680 battery (46mm diameter and 80mm height) in its vehicles.
If Samsung SDI decides to make 4680 batteries as well, it could supply those to Tesla and other brands that use those, helping the EV companies and generating a lot of revenue. At the event, Choi also said that Samsung SDI has scheduled the mass production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for 2026 and of solid-state batteries for 2027.
