Tesla
A Panasonic Corp's lithium-ion battery, which is part of Tesla Motor Inc's Model S and Model X battery packs, is pictured with the Tesla Motors logo during a photo opportunity at the Panasonic Center in Tokyo, Japan, November 19, 2013. Reuters/Yuya Shino

Recent reports are of the opinion that Tesla’s use of aluminium could mean that its cars, including Model 3, and batteries could last for 20 years. Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University, a battery researcher working the company, revealed the news recently during a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

There, Dahn stated that his team has been able to double the overall life of the batteries four years ahead of the project’s scheduled end. This is an important breakthrough that will have a tremendous impact on Tesla Model 3, which is set to enter production in July. It is the cheapest car being produced by the company, and will likely have a mass audience. There is already an iPhone-like craze for the electric vehicle. However, the craze will die down if the car does not last long.

Dahn and his team are currently looking to achieve three goals: increase the lifespan of the batteries, lower the cost of the batteries and increase energy densities. These three goals are in fact inter-linked.

“I wrote down the goal of doubling the lifetime of the cells used in the Tesla products, at the same upper cut-off voltage. We exceeded that in round one. So that was the goal of the project, already been exceeded. We’re not going to stop, obviously. We have another four years to go, so we’re going to go as far as we can,” Dahn said at the lecture, reports Electrek.

Meanwhile, apart from Tesla Model 3, the company also has another important vehicle in the works, a compact electric SUV, dubbed the Model Y. Last Wednesday, during the company’s first-quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk revealed that the Model Y will hit the market by late 2019 or 2020. Model 3 is Model Y’s sister vehicle. Musk has kept silent about the specifications of the SUV, though the two are expected to be similar in design and features. Y may have those Falcon Wing doors, like that in Model X.

With the release of the Model Y, Musk will complete the automaker’s “S3XY” line-up. However, this weird naming pattern, especially Model 3, is actually causing a lot of confusion among buyers. Musk said that this naming, which is an error, is hurting sales.

“The joke's on me because it's caused confusion in the marketplace. We're going to be a broken record on this front because we have to clear up an error,” he explained.

[READ MORE: Tesla Model 3 update: Latest is not the greatest; Musk busy educating consumers] Watch a Jeff Dahn February interview here.

Source: YouTube/NSERCTube

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