"We had a big debate and I showed him. He was silent. Elon Musk doesn't understand how to make batteries: the founder of the largest battery company in the world had some lessons to teach him.

Have you ever experienced a moment where you realize you've lost a debate in the middle of it? If you are anything like me, then you will buy your editor a drink and pretend that it was a tie. If you are Elon Musk and you're in a factory, debating with the founder of the largest EV battery manufacturer in the world about the merits your battery tech, I imagine that it would be a little more toe-curling.

Musk was in a similar situation in April when he met Robin Zeng, a CATL employee in Beijing (via Reuters). Zeng told Musk, according to Zeng, that his bet about the cylindrical battery in the Cybertruck 4680 "will fail and never be a success."

Zeng said, "We had an extremely large debate and I showed him." "He was quiet. He doesn't understand how to make a cell. It's all about electrochemistry. "He's good with the chips, software, hardware, mechanical things."

Zeng did not stop there. Zeng, the founder of the company, then questioned Musk's approach towards product timelines.

Zeng said, "His problem is that he overpromises." "I spoke to him. Maybe it takes five years. He says two years. I asked him why. He told me that he wanted people to be pushed.

If you believe him, you'll be in trouble. The direction is correct."

Zeng, don't be shy, tell us your true thoughts. There are still some compliments among all the criticism. It's important to remember that no one is the best at everything. Mr Zeng did a good job of balancing direct criticism with useful knowledge.

Robin Zeng is a battery expert and a company manager. CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited) is the world's largest battery manufacturer, including efforts to power electric cars from Volkswagen BMW and, err... Tesla.

Musk may be ready to abandon the Tesla 4680 cell by the end the year, according to reports from this summer. The original brief was to design a battery to enable Telsa to produce more electric vehicles at a lower price.

Insider sources claim that the battery is prone to multiple problems, and Tesla engineers have been given a strict time limit to fix it.

Recent reports indicate that production doubled between June and September of this year. These issues may be behind the EV maker now. Zeng seems to be unimpressed. Time will tell if the 4680 battery is one of Musk's greatest achievements or a product that is doomed to failure.

Could one of these great minds in the meantime do something about gaming portable battery life? My Steam Deck is wonderful, but I would love to have a handheld that could run for more than two hours. Please, thank you and all that.