Tesla will hold its delayed shareholder meeting and Battery Day on September 22 at its factory in Fremont, California.
The events will be held in person, but will also be streamed live, according to Tesla’s announcement. After their meeting, shareholders are invited to attend the Battery Day presentation, and it remains to be seen if others will be invited to watch.
The combination of the shareholder meeting and Battery Day, as well as Fremont as the setting for the events, was raised as a possibility by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in June. The Fremont factory was a site of controversy in May, when Musk decided to restart the facility in defiance of Alameda County rules surrounding coronavirus shutdowns.
There is no certainty that the COVID-19 pandemic will be under control by September. Digital Trends has reached out to Tesla to confirm if there are plans to implement social distancing measures at the shareholder meeting and Battery Day presentation, and we will update this article as soon as we hear back.
Battery Day delayed again
Tesla is expected to unveil a low-cost battery that will last up to a million miles, which may make its electric vehicles cost the same or even less than a gasoline-powered car. The batteries are expected to first appear in the Model 3 in China later this year or early 2021, before arriving in other markets such as North America.
Battery Day was initially planned for late May, but due to an expected low attendance, Tesla decided to go with a webcast in June, followed by an in-person event a few months after. The webcast did not push through, further delaying the unveiling of the million-mile battery to September 22.
The new battery will use low-cobalt and cobalt-free chemistries, as cobalt drives up the price. Tesla is also planning to further reduce its cost by implementing automated manufacturing processes and improving production rates across its factories.
