Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed at the opening of Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory that Tesla is working on new battery chemistries.

When Elon Musk was asked about the potential of graphene as a battery-making material during a question-and-answer session after the opening of the Gigafactory, he said: Tesla sees the potential of manganese-based cathodes in battery chemistry.

Elon Musk said the auto industry needs to pay more attention to the battery supply chain, even including minerals.

Notably, this isn't the first time he has mentioned that Tesla is exploring manganese as a replacement in the company's electric vehicle batteries. At Tesla Battery Day 2020, Elon Musk said: "It is relatively simple to use two-thirds nickel and one-third manganese as a cathode, which will allow us to use the same amount of nickel. In the case of more than 50% more battery capacity.