December 29, 2025
Battery Daydreams, Meet Reality
Tesla's 4680 battery supply chain collapses as partner writes down deal by 99%
From $2.9B to pocket change—fans roast, stans cope, stock shrugs
TLDR: L&F cut Tesla’s $2.9B battery-materials deal to just $7,386, hinting the 4680 program—and the Cybertruck—are stalled. Comments erupted: skeptics say Tesla’s big promises fizzled, defenders cry media bias, and everyone jokes about “billions to coffee money” while the stock barely reacts, raising bigger questions about Tesla’s roadmap.
Tesla’s battery fairytale just got a plot twist worthy of daytime TV. South Korea’s L&F says its $2.9 billion deal to supply Tesla’s 4680 battery materials has been chopped to… $7,386. Yes, really. The community immediately went full popcorn mode: “holy grail” turned “holey fail”, and the Cybertruck—Tesla’s only car using 4680 cells—took center stage. Critics pointed to months of soft sales, 0% financing, and the axed base model as receipts. One user cited Reuters reporting that test lines were scrapping 70–80% of cathodes, calling the 4680 “a manufacturing nightmare.”
The top comment brought the heat: Battery Day promises of cheaper cars, monster range, and a $25k Tesla? “None of those have happened.” Others piled on with Robotaxi jokes—“launching without a steering wheel” became the meme of the day. Meanwhile, a contrarian crowd pushed back, calling Electrek “one-sided” and floating a calmer theory: maybe Tesla is reshuffling suppliers ahead of a new “Cybercab” and paused orders. Investors? They seemed unfazed, which led to even more eye-rolls: the stock barely blinked, prompting “Wall Street lives on vibes” jokes.
The spiciest take: a commenter said this was a B2B deal turned “B2C disaster in disguise.” The thread devolved into a fan vs. skeptic cage match, with one camp shouting “canceled,” the other whispering “pivot.” Either way, $2.9B to coffee money has become the internet’s favorite punchline.
Key Points
- •L&F Co. reduced its Tesla cathode materials contract from $2.9 billion to $7,386 due to a change in supply quantity.
- •Tesla’s Cybertruck is currently the only vehicle using the company’s in‑house 4680 battery cells.
- •The article reports Tesla offered discounted financing in March and 0% APR incentives in June to move Cybertruck inventory.
- •Cybertruck production capacity at Giga Texas is stated as ~250,000 units per year, but sales run rate is reported at ~20,000–25,000 annually.
- •Tesla discontinued the cheapest Cybertruck variant in September, per the article.