⁍ Tesla’s new larger cylindrical cells will provide five times more energy, six times more power and 16% greater driving range.

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⁍ Musk said Tesla planned to recycle battery cells at its Nevada ‘gigafactory,’ while reducing cobalt — one of the most expensive battery materials — to virtually zero.

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– Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday laid out his company’s plan to make an electric car so affordable that a $25,000 one is possible. The Los Angeles Times reports on what Musk calls the company’s “secret weapon”: a new generation of batteries that will be half as expensive as Tesla’s current ones. Musk says the new cells will be five times more powerful, six times more power, and 16% greater driving range than Tesla’s current cells. Tesla plans to start with a new assembly line near its vehicle plant in Fremont, Calif., with planned output reaching 10 gigawatt-hours a year by the end of 2021. The new cells will be made at several automated factories around the world, and cobalt will be nearly zero, Reuters reports. Tesla plans to recycle battery cells at its $5 billion Nevada “gigafactory,” while reducing cobalt to virtually zero. It also plans to manufacture its own battery cells at several highly automated factories around the world. “Building an affordable electric car has always been our dream from the beginning of the company,” Musk told an online audience of more than 270,000. “That’s something we will have in the future. But we’ve got to get the cost of batteries down.” Tesla shares, which closed Tuesday down 5.6%, fell another 5% in after-hours trade wiping out about $20 billion in market value in two hours. Musk acknowledged that Tesla does not have its ambitious new vehicle and battery designs and manufacturing processes fully complete.