BY Brad Anderson | Posted on Panasonic has high hopes for Tesla’s new 4680 battery cells but admits producing them will be a challenge. The new 4680 cells were unveiled by Elon Musk last September and will be pivotal in the automaker’s plans to sell a forthcoming model for just $25,000. Tesla will build some of these cells in-house but Panasonic also plans to produce them. The new cells are five times the size of the 1865 and 2170 cells that Panasonic already supplies Tesla. This larger size means fewer will be needed to power an electric vehicle and according to Panasonic’s EV battery chief Yasuaki Takamoto, this also means fewer parts will be needed to make battery packs.