Photo: Tesla China
Tesla has ordered 45 GWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries from Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL). These batteries will be mainly used for the production of Model 3 and Model Y, according to sources, which means they will be enough for about 800,000 vehicles.
Batteries, of course, are a critical element on the road to more widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Having access to a large number of batteries will determine whether an EV manufacturer can produce cars quickly enough, which will have a direct impact on the captured car market share.
Tesla is an actively developing company, the main business of which, at the moment, is focused on the production of cars. The manufacturer already has two factories in operation with a total production capacity of over 1 million vehicles per year, and two more factories are expected to start operation by the end of this year. As such, Tesla will need a lot of batteries. At the moment, the company has access to batteries to supply the factories in Fremont and Shanghai, but with Giga Berlin and Giga Texas, this need will grow significantly. Although the company is actively developing its own battery cells, it is still not enough to meet its own needs, so finding suppliers is an important step in further expansion.
36 Krypton has learned from a number of people familiar with the matter that Tesla has already ordered 45 GWh LFP batteries from China's leading battery company CATL for use primarily on the Model 3 and Model Y models next year. This number of battery cells should be enough to produce between 750,000 and 818,000 vehicles, depending on how they are distributed among the models.
In addition, Tesla is continuing negotiations with CATL to further expand the order, sources said. This is a logical step given the company's overall expansion plan. In addition to expanding the automotive business, Tesla also intends to expand its energy business, which will require a large number of LFP batteries.
© 2021, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
_____________________________
We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
