Finding
Cells, cathode, lithium hydroxide and assembly are all Tesla-made in Texas; the launch AI chip still comes from Korea
The ring holds 19 supplier rows across 11 layers: 11 in-house, one sole source, one China-supplied and five with the supplier not disclosed.
The most US-domestic ring: 4680 cells with Tesla-made NMC cathode at Giga Texas, lithium hydroxide from the Robstown refinery, and the in-house drive unit, pack, 48 V system, unpainted panels and unboxed assembly line in Austin. Remaining imports are the cathode precursor and graphite (undisclosed), magnets and inverter power devices (undisclosed), and the launch compute chip, an AI4 variant fabbed by Samsung in Korea. AI5 moves compute to US fabs (Samsung Taylor, TSMC Arizona) from 2027.
The ring
Who supplies each layer
In-house rows first in each layer, then sole, primary, second and multi-source suppliers. The left border shows the supplier country: red China, gold Japan, Korea or Taiwan, blue the US and Europe, gray not disclosed. Confidence: confirmed (company or filing), reported (credible press), inferred (deduced, not disclosed).
| Supplier | Component | Country | Plant or location | Relationship | Confidence | Evidence and links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cells | ||||||
| Tesla (Giga Texas cell line) Parent: Tesla | 4680 dry-cathode cylindrical cells (nickel chemistry) Usable capacity calculated at 47.6 kWh | US | Austin, Texas, US | in-house | confirmed | company report (2025 Impact Report) |
| Tesla (Giga Texas cathode plant) Parent: Tesla | NMC cathode active material Plant online Aug 2026; precursor plus lithium hydroxide | US | Austin, Texas, US | in-house | confirmed | company post |
| Tesla (Robstown lithium refinery) Parent: Tesla | Lithium hydroxide Robstown-to-Austin link implied, not stated by Tesla | US | Robstown, Texas, US | in-house | inferred | press report Lithium Refining |
| not disclosed | NMC precursor (pCAM: nickel, manganese, cobalt) Source of precursor not named; historic Tesla nickel deals with Vale (Canada) and Chinese pCAM makers are candidates (inferred). Main residual import dependence | reported | inferred | none | ||
| not disclosed | Graphite anode material Candidates (inferred): Syrah Vidalia (Tesla offtake), Chinese synthetic graphite | reported | inferred | none | ||
| Pack and BMS | ||||||
| Tesla | Sealed-module structural pack, LFP-ready Spare room for later LFP cells; modules individually replaceable | US | Austin, Texas, US | in-house | confirmed | interview (Munro Live) Tesla |
| Tesla | 48 V low-voltage architecture and Li-ion LV battery 400 V HV pack | US | Austin, Texas, US | in-house | confirmed | company report Power Electronics Supply Chain |
| Motor and drive | ||||||
| Tesla | New drive unit using fewer critical minerals Target at least 6.1 mi/kWh; motor type not disclosed | US | Austin, Texas, US | in-house | confirmed | company report Traction Motors and Magnets |
| Magnets and rare earths | ||||||
| not disclosed | Motor magnets Candidates (inferred): JL Mag, Zhong Ke San Huan; reduced-rare-earth design lowers exposure | China | China | reported | inferred | none Magnet Manufacturing for Motors |
| Power electronics and SiC | ||||||
| not disclosed | Inverter power devices Candidates (inferred): STMicroelectronics, onsemi (Model Y suppliers) | reported | inferred | none EV Power Semiconductors | ||
| Compute and AI chips | ||||||
| Samsung Foundry Parent: Samsung | Upgraded AI4 FSD computer (launch hardware) Production started on AI4 variant, not AI5 | South Korea | South Korea | sole source | reported | press report Tesla Terafab |
| Samsung Foundry Parent: Samsung | AI5 FSD SoC (planned) 2 nm trial production; volume 2027; goes to Optimus and data centers first | South Korea | Taylor, Texas, US | primary | reported | press report Tesla Terafab SX ring: Tesla AI5 |
| TSMC | AI5 FSD SoC (planned) Dual-foundry; both US fabs | Taiwan | Arizona, US | primary | reported | press report Tesla Terafab SX ring: Tesla AI5 |
| Sensors | ||||||
| not disclosed | Vision cameras and dual GPS Candidates (inferred): Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Tesla primary camera supplier) | reported | inferred | none Vehicle Camera Modules | ||
| Software and autonomy | ||||||
| Tesla | Unsupervised FSD (Level 4 robotaxi) Steer-by-wire; no wheel or pedals | US | Palo Alto and Austin, US | in-house | confirmed | company report Tesla and the Six Foundation Domains |
| Structure and body | ||||||
| Tesla (Giga Texas plastics shop) Parent: Tesla | RIM exterior panels (no paint shop) and FRP supports FRP detail from third-party drone footage | US | Austin, Texas, US | in-house | reported | press report |
| Charging interface | ||||||
| Tesla | Inductive charging with UWB positioning Pad maker not disclosed; Bluetooth interim | US | US | in-house | reported | regulatory filing (FCC waiver) EV Charging Equipment |
| Tesla | NACS conductive inlet (Supercharger compatible) | US | US | in-house | reported | press report |
| Final assembly | ||||||
| Tesla Gigafactory Texas Parent: Tesla | Unboxed-process assembly line First unit Feb 2026; production from 21 Apr 2026 | US | Austin, Texas, US | in-house | confirmed | press report |
Sources
Sources and scope
- Scope
- Tesla Cybercab supplier ring
- Sources
- ElectronsX flagship machine ring dataset: teardowns, company releases and filings, supplier disclosures and trade press; one source per row
- Updated
- 2026-10