Chinese media reported that Tesla ordered 45 GWh of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries from Chinese battery producer CATL. The batteries reportedly will be used for the automaker’s Model 3 and the Model Y.
The reports calculated that the 45 GWh would be enough to support production of 800,000 vehicles, which is more than Tesla’s sales through the first three quarters of 2021 (625,000 units). The news outlet pegged the battery capacity of the two models at 55 kWh and 60 kWh.
On October 28, CATL broke ground on a new lithium-ion battery production base in Yichun, east China’s Jiangxi Province. The first phase of the project involves an investment of around $2.1 billion to build a 50 GWh lithium-ion battery production base.
News outlets said that Tesla’s Nevada battery plant is expected to expand production to more than 40 GWh. Additional supplies from Panasonic and LG Chem led the outlet to speculate that global sales for Tesla in 2022 could be around 1.5 million vehicles.
The first LFP-powered Tesla model was the standard-range Model 3 made in its Shanghai factory. Earlier this year, the Shanghai-made standard range Model Y also switched to an LFP battery.
At the end of August, Tesla said that its U.S. customers would have the option of buying an LFP-powered Model 3. And, in reporting its third-quarter financial results in October, Tesla said that it would shift to LFP battery chemistry globally for its standard-range vehicles.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.