Li/Ni antisite defects mainly resulting from their similar ionic radii in the layered nickel-rich cathode materials belong to one of cation disordering scenarios. They are commonly considered harmful to the electrochemical properties, so a minimum degree of cation disordering is usually desired. However, this study indicates that LiNiCoAlO as the key material for Tesla batteries possesses the highest rate capability when there is a minor degree (2.3%) of Li/Ni antisite defects existing in its layered structure. By combining a theoretical calculation, the improvement mechanism is attributed to two effects to decrease the activation barrier for lithium migration: (1) the anchoring of a low fraction of high-valence Ni ions in the Li slab pushes uphill the nearest Li ions and (2) the same fraction of low-valence Li ions in the Ni slab weakens the repulsive interaction to the Li ions at the saddle point.